Clocks · Clock
Clock by Benjamin Gray, London, c. 1750
- Maker / attribution
- Benjamin Gray (maker)
- Date
- c. 1750
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Clock
- Dimensions
- Height 28 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 294
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 294)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Benjamin Gray, A rare George II period arched dial timepiece with alarm (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 294), this is a clock by Benjamin Gray, made in London, England, dated c. 1750. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 28 cm. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.
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 rare George II period 3 ½ inch arched dial timepiece with alarm in its original mahogany hooded case. Dial Width : 3 ½ in (9 cm) Case Height : 11 in (28 cm) Width: 5 ¾ in (14.5 cm) Depth : 4 ½ in (11.5 cm) * Benjamin Gray was a celebrated maker who became Watchmaker to George II. This miniature hooded wall clock predates his well-known partnership with his son-in-law Justin Vulliamy which started in 1743 and ended when Gray died in 1764. HW5082
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
Alarm clocks
Alarm work is among the oldest clock functions: monastic clocks woke monks for night prayers, and Renaissance table clocks often carried an alarm disc set by a pin. A separate spring or weight is released at the set time and drives a hammer against a bell. Some early alarms also lit a candle by striking a flint — the 'tinder pistol' alarm.
The cheap, mass-produced alarm clock arrived in the second half of the nineteenth century. American firms such as Seth Thomas and Westclox (the 'Big Ben' of 1910) and German makers such as Junghans and Kienzle made millions of drum-shaped alarms with pin-pallet escapements. Electric, quartz and digital alarm clocks followed in the twentieth century.
What to look for
- A separate alarm-setting dial or disc and an extra winding key.
- Twin bells on top (common after c. 1920) or a bell enclosed in the base.
- Pin-pallet escapements in inexpensive factory alarms.
- Trademarks and patent dates on dial or back.
Dating clues
- Renaissance alarm table clocks: sixteenth to seventeenth centuries.
- Drum alarm clocks: from the 1870s.
- Luminous dials with radium paint: c. 1910–1960.
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.
Related records
Clocks · c.1730
Long case clock, figured walnut, inscribed 'Benj: Gray and Just: Vulliamy, London', made in about 1730
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · c. 1745
Clock, movement by Benjamin Gray, England, c. 1745
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Movements & Components · 1730
Watch movement by Benjamin Gray, England, 1730
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · c.1750
Longcase clock by Benjamin Gray, England, c.1750
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1740–1760
Longcase clock, English, 1740–1760, japanned wood, John Ellicott
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · c.1750
Long-case clock, English, ca. 1750, by Richard Peyton of Gloucester
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1751
Large wheel engine, signed and dated "John Tipping, Whildon Green, 1751".
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1755
Bracket clock by John Fordham, England, 1755
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York