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Clock by Joseph Smith, Chester, c. 1720–1725 — view 1 of 4
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Clocks · Clock

Clock by Joseph Smith, Chester, c. 1720–1725

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Joseph Smith (maker)
Date
c. 1720–1725
Historical period
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Country of origin
United Kingdom
Place
Chester
Object type
Clock
Materials / technique
walnut
Dimensions
Height 35.5 cm
Dealer
Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London
Stock no.
SKU 10
Credit line
Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 10)
Catalogue title (original)
JOSEPH SMITH, BARTHOMLEY. A RARE GEORGE I PERIOD PROVINCIAL WALNUT TIMEPIECE (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 10), this is a clock by Joseph Smith, made in Chester, United Kingdom, dated c. 1720–1725. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: walnut. Recorded dimensions: Height 35.5 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

A very rare George I period provincial walnut veneered brass dial timepiece with restored verge escapement and pull quarter repeat on two bells. Height: 14 in (35.5 cm) excluding handle Width: 10 ½ in (26.5 cm) Depth: 6 ½ in (16.5 cm) * Joseph Smith of Barthomley, Chester is listed on page 721 of Brian Loomes’ Clockmakers of the World: 21st Century Edition. He married in 1718 and worked in Barthomley until 1725 when he moved to Gloverstone, Chester where he continued to work till post 1769. Small walnut table clocks are rare. Early provincial examples even more so. HW5545 Signed / Inscribed Joseph Smith Barthomley

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

Domestic clocks

A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.

Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.

What to look for

  • How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
  • The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
  • Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
  • The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
  • Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.

Dating clues

  • Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
  • Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
  • Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.

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:Anchor (recoil) escapementFoliot

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