Clocks · Bracket clock
Early 19th century mahogany and brass inlaid twin fusee mantel clock
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- Early 19th century
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- brass, mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 18 in (46 cm)
- Auction house
- Gardiner Houlgate (auction house), Corsham
- Lot
- Sale 42, lot 1250
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 1250, Fine Clocks & Related Items, Gardiner Houlgate (22nd October 2026)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Early 19th century mahogany and brass inlaid twin fusee mantel clock, the 8" circular painted dial with Roman numerals, twin fusee movement striking on a bell, with pull repeat, the case with shaped t (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Gardiner Houlgate (auction house), Corsham (lot Sale 42, lot 1250), this is a bracket clock, 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: brass, mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 18 in (46 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
Lot description — Gardiner Houlgate
Early 19th century mahogany and brass inlaid twin fusee mantel clock, the 8" circular painted dial with Roman numerals, twin fusee movement striking on a bell, with pull repeat, the case with shaped top, brass foliate inlay, arched brass grilles to the sides and lion mask ring drop handles, on brass ball feet, 18" high (with pendulum and door key)
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
Bracket, table and spring-driven clocks
Spring-driven clocks freed timekeeping from the hanging weight. The coiled mainspring, documented from the fifteenth century, made portable table clocks possible; to even out its declining force, makers used the fusee, a conical pulley connected to the barrel by a gut line or chain. Renaissance table clocks from Augsburg and Nuremberg — drum-shaped, square or tower-shaped in gilt brass — were luxury scientific objects, often with astronomical dials and alarms.
After the pendulum, English makers developed the bracket clock: a wooden case with a carrying handle, a short pendulum with a verge escapement, and often repeating work to sound the hours on demand at night. Later examples use the anchor escapement. In the nineteenth century, 'table clock' became a broad term for spring clocks of every nationality.
What to look for
- A fusee in the movement (cone-shaped pulley) and the type of line — gut or chain.
- Verge escapement with a short bob pendulum, often with a decoratively engraved backplate.
- Repeat cords or buttons that make the clock strike again on demand.
- Gilt-brass engraved cases and horizontal dials on Renaissance pieces.
- Case shapes: inverted bell, bell top, break-arch, lancet or balloon.
Dating clues
- Drum and tower table clocks: c. 1520–1650.
- Ebony veneered English bracket clocks with verge escapements: c. 1670–1800.
- Engraved backplates were usual on English clocks until c. 1800, then generally plain.
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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