Clocks · Longcase clock
Edinburgh longcase clock by Whitelaw, c. 1805
- Maker / attribution
- Whitelaw (maker)
- Date
- c. 1805
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Scotland
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 7 ft 1 in (216 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 263
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 263)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Edinburgh Longcase Clock by Whitelaw (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 263), this is a longcase clock by Whitelaw, made in Scotland, dated c. 1805. 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 1 in (216 cm). The record is illustrated with 3 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 example of Scottish clockmaking by these well known makers. The 8 day duration movement striking the hours on a bell with a substantial wood rod pendulum and brass cased weights. The silvered brass round dial with Roman chapters, matching blued steel hands and also featuring seconds, date and the makers name and place of work. The mahogany case of excellent deep colour with a long trunk door and a plain base with bracket feet. The hood with brass capped mahogany pillars and a glazed hood door. The swan neck top hood with dentil moulding, brass paterea and a brass eagle finial. Note: There were three Clockmakers by the name of Whitelaw working in Edinburgh in the early 19th century, James, David and Alexander. They all appear to have worked in Princes Street. Maker Whitelaw
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
Related records
Clocks · c. 1825
Scottish longcase clock by Whitelaw, Edinburgh, c. 1825
P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire
Clocks · c. 1820
Domestic regulator longcase clock by Whitelaw, Edinburgh, c. 1820
P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire
Clocks · c. 1835
Drumhead longcase clock by Whitelaw, Edinburgh, c. 1835
P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire
Clocks · c. 1820–1830
Bracket clock by Bryson, Edinburgh, c. 1820–1830
Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London
Clocks · c. 1820–1830
Bracket clock by J & W Howden, Edinburgh, c. 1820–1830
Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London
Clocks · c. 1810
Clock by Reid and Auld, Edinburgh, c. 1810
Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London
Clocks · c. 1810
Grandfather Clock by Robert Bryson, Edinburgh, c. 1810
Pendulum of Mayfair (dealer), London
Clocks · c. 1790
Grandfather Clock by James Gray, Edinburgh, c. 1790
Pendulum of Mayfair (dealer), London