Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Simon de Charmes, London, c. 1720
- Maker / attribution
- Simon de Charmes (maker)
- Date
- c. 1720
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- walnut
- Dimensions
- Height 38 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 536
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 536)
- Catalogue title (original)
- SIMON DE CHARMES. A superb George I period arched dial burr walnut table clock. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 536), this is a bracket clock by Simon de Charmes, made in London, England, dated c. 1720. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: walnut. Recorded dimensions: Height 38 cm. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Howard Walwyn
A superb George I period arched dial burr walnut table clock by this well-known Hugeonot maker, the 8-day movement with inset datework, dummy pendulum and rise/fall in the arch. The silvered chapter ring has Roman hour numerals, inside quarters and the maker’s name S De Charmes London is engraved on the dummy pendulum plaque. There is a strike/silent lever at IX and a cord on the right hand side for pull quarter-repeat on 5 bells. The well-proportioned inverted bell top case is beautifully patinated and has finely cut sound frets to the front, sides and back. The backplate is exquisitely engraved with a figure of a naked cupid holding a sword in his right hand and blowing a trumpet which he is holding in his left hand. He is flanked by two winged birds within a foliate centre and herringbone engraved border. Height : 15 in (38 cm) excluding handle * Simon de Charmes was a Hugeonot immigrant from France and was a member of the Clockmakers’ Company from 1692 – 1730. He made a number of very fine longcase and bracket clocks and this fine table burr walnut table clock is no exception. His workshop was at the ‘ the sign of the clock ’ on the corner of Warwick Street on Charing Cross. He moved to Hammersmith where he built Grove Hall in 1730 and he was succeeded by his son David De Charmes. GD01
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology
Atlas type guide
Bracket, table and spring-driven clocks
Spring-driven clocks freed timekeeping from the hanging weight. The coiled mainspring, documented from the fifteenth century, made portable table clocks possible; to even out its declining force, makers used the fusee, a conical pulley connected to the barrel by a gut line or chain. Renaissance table clocks from Augsburg and Nuremberg — drum-shaped, square or tower-shaped in gilt brass — were luxury scientific objects, often with astronomical dials and alarms.
After the pendulum, English makers developed the bracket clock: a wooden case with a carrying handle, a short pendulum with a verge escapement, and often repeating work to sound the hours on demand at night. Later examples use the anchor escapement. In the nineteenth century, 'table clock' became a broad term for spring clocks of every nationality.
What to look for
- A fusee in the movement (cone-shaped pulley) and the type of line — gut or chain.
- Verge escapement with a short bob pendulum, often with a decoratively engraved backplate.
- Repeat cords or buttons that make the clock strike again on demand.
- Gilt-brass engraved cases and horizontal dials on Renaissance pieces.
- Case shapes: inverted bell, bell top, break-arch, lancet or balloon.
Dating clues
- Drum and tower table clocks: c. 1520–1650.
- Ebony veneered English bracket clocks with verge escapements: c. 1670–1800.
- Engraved backplates were usual on English clocks until c. 1800, then generally plain.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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