Clocks · Longcase clock
Drumhead longcase clock by Whitelaw, Edinburgh, c. 1835
- Maker / attribution
- Whitelaw (maker)
- Date
- c. 1835
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Scotland
- Place
- Edinburgh
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 7 ft 0 in (213 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 594
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 594)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Drumhead longcase clock by Whitelaw of Edinburgh (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 594), this is a longcase clock by Whitelaw, made in Edinburgh, Scotland, dated c. 1835. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 7 ft 0 in (213 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 — P A Oxley
An excellent Regulator style longcase clock by this well known Scottish clockmaker. The well made 8 day duration movement strikes the hours on a bell and has a recoil anchor escapement. The round painted dial features matching blued steel hands and is signed by the maker to the centre, D. Whitelaw, Edinburgh. The movement also features a large brass pendulum to aid regulation. Unusually, this clock does not feature seconds or a date feature. The elegantly proportioned mahogany veneered case of typical drumhead design has high quality crossbanded veneers throughout with plain columns to the trunk. The weights and pendulum are accessed through an unusually designed trunk door which is removable via a rare top mounted lock. The base has a raised single moulding and small bracket feet. To the hood a glazed porthole style door is lifted upwards to gain access to the dial. The door can be locked via a latch inside the case. The plain drum shaped top is typical of the period and Edinburgh area. The ever popular drumhead designed longcase clocks have both a contemporary and period feel. An excellent example for either the modern or traditional home. Although in working order the movement will require a full overhaul and service before delivery. It will then be guaranteed for 3 years. Note: James & David Whitelaw were a very skilled Clockmaking family who it appears specialised in longcase clocks. They are known to have worked from both Princes Street and Register Street in Edinburgh. This is a fine and very collectable example in very original condition.
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
Longcase (tall-case or grandfather) clocks
The longcase clock was born from two seventeenth-century innovations: Christiaan Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) and the anchor escapement (c. 1670). A long seconds pendulum, nearly a metre long, swings with a small arc, and enclosing it together with the driving weights in a tall wooden case protected the mechanism and created a new piece of furniture. London makers such as Ahasuerus Fromanteel, Thomas Tompion and Joseph Knibb set the pattern.
By the eighteenth century longcase clocks were made throughout Britain, the Netherlands, Scandinavia (the Swedish Mora clock), France (the Comtoise from the Franche-Comté), Germany and colonial America. Eight-day movements with two weights became standard in better clocks; thirty-hour clocks with one weight and a rope or chain were cheaper alternatives.
What to look for
- Winding holes in the dial: two (eight-day, going and striking) or none (thirty-hour, pulled up by a chain).
- Brass dials with applied chapter rings (earlier) versus painted iron 'white' dials (after c. 1770 in Britain).
- Moon-phase arches, date apertures, seconds dials and maker's name on the dial.
- Case woods and style: ebonised, walnut marquetry, lacquer, oak or mahogany; regional styles from London, Lancashire, Scotland or America.
- Whether the movement and dial match the case — 'marriages' are common.
Dating clues
- Square brass dials suggest c. 1670–1720; arched brass dials c. 1715–1790.
- Painted (white) dials were made by Birmingham dial-makers from about 1772.
- Comtoise clocks with repoussé pendulums are mostly nineteenth century.
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:Deadbeat escapementAnchor escapement
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