Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Stephen Asselin, London, c. 1720
- Maker / attribution
- Stephen Asselin (maker)
- Date
- c. 1720
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Dimensions
- Height 46 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 362
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 362)
- Catalogue title (original)
- STEPHEN ASSELIN. An exceptional early Georgian arched dial bracket clock (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 362), this is a bracket clock by Stephen Asselin, made in London, England, dated c. 1720. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 46 cm. The record is illustrated with 4 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
An exceptional early Georgian arched dial striking bracket clock by this eminent Huguenot maker. The case is veneered with the finest amboyna veneers and rosewood mouldings. There are two delicately carved rosewood sound frets above the front and back doors and to each side. The densely figured amboyna case is surmounted by an inverted bell top with four brass urn finials and a finely knopped carrying handle. The break arch brass dial has a raised chapter ring, inset datework, six gilt brass spandrels and an engraved area within the strike/silent dial in the arch. The dial centre is finely matted with insets for the false pendulum and datework. The 8-day movement with restored verge escapement , of the finest London quality , strikes the hours on a bell and there is pull quarter repeatwork on two bells. The backplate has the most exquisite engraving of a mythical bird and two angels being supported on leafy fronds and flowers to each side of the lambrequin containing the maker’s signature Stephen Asselin, London . Height: 18 in (46 cm) and including handle 19 ½ in (49.5 cm) Depth: 7 in (18 cm) * Stephen Asselin who was of Huguenot origins, was a prolific maker of some very fine clocks. We previously had a fine walnut Longcase and a musical Bracket Clock by him. He is recorded on page 62 of Brian Loomes’ Early Clockmakers of Great Britain as working between 1700 and 1720. This rare clock is a superlative example of his work.
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.
Read next:FuseeAnchor (recoil) escapement
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