Clocks · Bracket clock
Ebonised bracket clock by J. Prichard, London
- Maker / attribution
- J. Prichard (maker)
- Date
- c. 1780
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- ebonised
- Dimensions
- Height 52 cm
- Stock no.
- Product 2395
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, The Antique Clock Company (product 2395)
- Catalogue title (original)
- A RARE EBONISED BRACKET CLOCK – J. PRICHARD OF LONDON (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by The Antique Clock Company (dealer), Dorset (stock number Product 2395), this is a bracket clock by J. Prichard, made in London, England, dated c. 1780. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: ebonised. Recorded dimensions: Height 52 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
Dealer description — The Antique Clock Company
A superb ebonised bracket clock with inverted bell top case, solid cast brass handle, four pineapple finials to the corners over twisted side mounts to the front aspect of the clock and stood upon ogee brass feet with glazed lockable doors to the front and rear and glazed windows to both sides. The high quality repeating movement is of 8 day duration with twin fusees and knopped pillars striking the hours to a bell, with original verge knife-edge escapement. The back plate is beautifully engraved with foliate scroll work featuring a Ho-ho bird and numbered 223. The stunning break-arch brass dial measures 6 ¾” in width with gilded spandrels, matted centre, silvered cartouche engraved “Jno. Prichard London”, date aperture, silvered engraved chapter ring featuring both Roman and Arabic numerals and a subsidiary strike/silent dial to the break arch. The dial is topped off with the original beautifully pierced and shaped blued steel hands A very attractive table clock of stunning proportions which was made to the highest standards of craftmanship. Height: 20 ¾ ” or 52cm (Top of handle) *This clock is delivered and set up for free within the UK. We regularly ship clocks all over the world with our approved and well-established Antiques and Fine Art Packers & Shippers. Please ask for a quote should you require this service.
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.
Read next:Anchor (recoil) escapement
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