Clocks · Carriage clock
Carriage clock by James Mccabe, Royal Exchange, London, c. 1840–50
- Maker / attribution
- James Mccabe (maker)
- Date
- c. 1840–50
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Royal Exchange, London
- Object type
- Carriage clock
- Dimensions
- Height 22.5 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 376
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 376)
- Catalogue title (original)
- JAMES McCABE. A fine English striking carriage clock by this excellent London maker, the case showing Chinese influence. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 376), this is a carriage clock by James Mccabe, made in Royal Exchange, London, England, dated c. 1840–50. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 22.5 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
A fine English striking carriage clock by this excellent London maker, the case showing Chinese influence . The four glass case is in dark mahogany and is modelled in the form of a Chinese pagoda and surmounted by a gilt brass foliate dragon’s mask carrying handle. It stands on a carved moulded base terminating in four ogee feet. The top cornice is a fluted concave moulding in the form of a pagoda roof. The movement , of the usual high London quality, has boldly turned and ringed baluster pillars, substantial brass plates, chain fusees and maintaining power. The hours are struck on a bell which is set on the backplate above the clockmaker’s signature. The gilt brass dial has an engine turned centre and Roman hour numerals with an outer circle of dots for the minutes. The finely pierced tapering blued steel hands appear to be original. The original platform lever escapement with slow/fast adjustment is mounted on the top plate and there is a pull cord for repeating the hours on a bell. Height : 8 ¾ (22.5 cm ) excluding handle Depth: 6 ½ in (16.5 cm) Width: 7 ½ in (19 cm ) *James McCabe was a fine maker working in the late 18 th and early 19 th century. His business was continued by his sons under the same name until 1883 and this clock would have been retailed by the son of the same name. Small elegant English four glass clocks in wooden cases with platform lever escapements and hour striking on a bell have become extremely hard to find and are highly collectable. HW5870
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
Carriage and travel clocks
The carriage clock is a portable spring clock with a balance-wheel escapement and a brass case with glass panels and a carrying handle. Abraham-Louis Breguet made early examples around 1800, and from the 1830s Paul Garnier and other French makers industrialised production, with the small towns of Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont and the Franche-Comté supplying movements for retailers worldwide.
Typical features include a platform escapement mounted horizontally on top of the movement (usually a lever, sometimes cylinder or Garnier's chaff-cutter), striking or repeating work, and alarms. English carriage clocks, generally larger and with fusees, were made by firms such as Frodsham and Dent. Travel clocks in folding leather cases became popular in the twentieth century.
What to look for
- A platform escapement visible through the top glass.
- Case styles: corniche, gorge, anglaise, obis or engraved cases.
- Repeat buttons on top and strike/silent levers.
- Stamps of movement makers (e.g. Drocourt, Jacot, Margaine, Richard & Co.) on the backplate.
Dating clues
- Early carriage clocks with Breguet or Garnier features: c. 1800–1850.
- Mass-produced French carriage clocks: c. 1850–1914.
- Folding travel clocks and alarm travel clocks: mostly 1920–1970.
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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