Clocks · Bracket clock
English bracket clock, c. 1820
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1820
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- ormolu
- Dimensions
- Height 30.5 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 333
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 333)
- Catalogue title (original)
- English Regency bronze and ormolu mounted library timepiece (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 333), this is a bracket clock, dated c. 1820. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: ormolu. Recorded dimensions: Height 30.5 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 — Howard Walwyn
A fine quality English Regency bronze and ormolu mounted library timepiece in pristine original condition. The clock is surmounted by an eagle with outspread wings over a drum-shaped case . The bronze rectangular plinth is mounted with a satyr’s head at the centre and oak leaf and flower garlands mounted at each side: to the right and left of the clock is a seated classical bronze female figure in flowing robes each reading a gilt book. The 3 ½ inch white enamel dial has blued steel moon hands and Roman numerals, the single train fusee movement runs for 8-days and retains its original anchor escapement. Height : 12 in (30.5 cm) Width : 14 ¾ in (37.5 cm) Depth : 3 ¼ in (8.25 cm) * This fine library clock which is inspired by French models of the period bears all the hallmarks of those made by F. Baetens who was active in Gerrard Street, London during the Regency period. Some examples were signed by other London retailers, others by Baetens himself or more commonly, as in the case of this clock, they were never signed. HW6074
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:Verge escapement
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