Clocks · Clock
Bracket clock, ca. 1685, English, inscribed ‘Johannes Fromanteel Londini fecit’. Case veneered with kingwood
- Maker / attribution
- Johannes Fromanteel (made)
- Date
- ca. 1685
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- kingwood, gilt metal
- Dimensions
- Height: 36 cm; Width: 23.5 cm; Depth: 16 cm
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- W.73:2-1926
- Credit line
- Bequeathed by Lt. Col. G. B. Croft-Lyons FSA
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number W.73:2-1926), this is a clock by Johannes Fromanteel, made in London, England, dated ca. 1685. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: kingwood, gilt metal. Recorded dimensions: Height: 36 cm; Width: 23.5 cm; Depth: 16 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
V&A — Summary
There were 3 clockmakers of the name Fromanteel recorded as working in London from 1630 onwards. It is said that Ahasuerus Fromanteel introduced the short pendulum in 1658. The family were of Flemish origin, having settled in East Anglia in the 16th century. John Fromanteel was admitted to the Clockmaker's Company in 1663. The case of this bracket clock is surmounted by a demical top of pierced chased brass with scrolled handle. The brass dial has cherub lead spandrel ornament.
V&A — Physical description
Bracket clock in a case veneered with kingwood, on four gilt feet. Pierced gilt metal basket top, glazed rectangular panels on the sides. Fold-down carrying handle.
V&A gallery label
Bracket Clock English about 1685 London, by John Fromantel Kingwood veneer, gilt metal, glass W.73-1926 The plain case is surmounted by a pierced gilt metal dome which in turn allows the bell to sound from the case. The Kingwood veneer is an unusual example of case decoration. After the severe perils, both natural and political, of the 1660's, a greater number of people began to earn disposable income. Clocks, amongst many other luxury items, became available to a greater number of consumers. The presence of time keeping instruments within households reflects the growing need to regulate the daily routines of the household members.
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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