Clocks · Longcase clock
Early 19th century figured mahogany Scottish eight day longcase clock
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- Early 19th century
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Scotland
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 89 in (226 cm)
- Auction house
- Gardiner Houlgate (auction house), Corsham
- Lot
- Sale 42, lot 1330
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 1330, Fine Clocks & Related Items, Gardiner Houlgate (22nd October 2026)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Early 19th century figured mahogany Scottish eight day longcase clock, the circular 14" painted dial painted dial signed John Clarke, Greenock, with Roman numerals, gilt hands, subsidiary seconds dial (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Gardiner Houlgate (auction house), Corsham (lot Sale 42, lot 1330), this is a longcase clock, made in Scotland, dated Early 19th century. 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 89 in (226 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
Lot description — Gardiner Houlgate
Early 19th century figured mahogany Scottish eight day longcase clock, the circular 14" painted dial painted dial signed John Clarke, Greenock, with Roman numerals, gilt hands, subsidiary seconds dial over a calendar dial, the four pillar movement striking on a bell, within a figured mahogany case with ebony banding and brass finial, 89" high (with pendulum, the bob painted with a conch shell, pair of cast weights and winding key) * John Clark was a Scottish watch and clock maker, jeweller, and silversmith who operated from 54 Cathcart Street in Greenock, Scotland. Historical records show he actively worked at this location from 1820 until at least 1837 ** Case ivory submission reference LCMJY167
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:Anchor (recoil) escapementDeadbeat escapementAnchor escapement
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