Clocks · Longcase clock
Grandfather Clock by Cooper of Whitchurch, c. 1740
- Maker / attribution
- Cooper of Whitchurch (maker)
- Date
- c. 1740
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Stock no.
- Product 11590
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Pendulum of Mayfair (product 11590)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Antique Grandfather Clock by Cooper of Whitchurch C1740 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Pendulum of Mayfair (dealer), London (stock number Product 11590), this is a longcase clock by Cooper of Whitchurch, dated c. 1740. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. The record is illustrated with 5 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 — Pendulum of Mayfair
An absolutely fantastic and rare ‘8-day’ spherical moon grandfather clock from the early to mid 18th century. I believe the case is red walnut rather than mahogany. This wood was introduced from native North America to Europe in 1629. Red walnut and mahogany can easily be mixed as red walnut has the red mahogany tinge to it. Most people when describing would simply call the case mahogany. This example is one we have owned for over 35 years and formed part of my fathers private collection. The movement with spherical moon is super rare. The arched brass dial with chapter ring and spandrels, wheatear engraving to the edges and engraving to the arch and centre. Finely matted dial centre together with subsidiary seconds and calendar apertures. Lovely spherical moon feature to the arch. The movement of high quality striking the hours on a single bell. The cabinet of wonderful design and colour. Swan neck pediments to the hood, shaped top to the long trunk door. The clock standing on OG bracket feet with shaped base panel. The Cooper family of clockmakers were makers of the highest quality in Whitchurch. This is perhaps the finest example we have ever seen.
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance 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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