Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Viner, London, c. 1820–1830
- Maker / attribution
- Viner (maker)
- Date
- c. 1820–1830
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Dimensions
- Height 17 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 339
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 339)
- Catalogue title (original)
- VINER. An exceptional miniature library timepiece (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 339), this is a bracket clock by Viner, made in London, England, dated c. 1820–1830. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 17 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 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 miniature library timepiece by this well known maker, the 8-day single fusee movement with anchor escapement and substantial brass bob pendulum. The beautiful highly figured rosewood case has a finely chamfered top terminating in an original turned wooden finial. There is an inset dentil moulding above and below the opening front door and an inset brass chamfer to each upright section. It stands on four adjustable brass bun feet. The 3-inch square gilt engine turned dial has Roman hour numerals and an outer minute band. The dial is signed by the maker within the chapter ring between XI and I and the signature is repeated on the backplate . The delicately tapering blued steel hands appear to be original. Height : 6 ¾ in (17 cm) excluding finial Width : 5 in (12.5 cm) Depth : 4 in (10 cm) * Viner and Co are listed on page 799 of Brian Loomes’ Clockmakers of the World: 21 st Century Edition as working in Regents Street from 1827 – 1850. Their clocks were of the finest quality and this beautiful miniature mantel clock is no exception. HW5834
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern 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:Verge escapement
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