Clocks · Longcase clock
Grandfather clock by James Snelling, London, c. 1735
- Maker / attribution
- James Snelling (maker)
- Date
- c. 1735
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Stock no.
- G-JS1
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Pendulum of Mayfair (G-JS1)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Antique grandfather clock by James Snelling – London C1735 (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Pendulum of Mayfair (dealer), London (stock number G-JS1), this is a longcase clock by James Snelling, made in London, England, dated c. 1735. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. The record is illustrated with 6 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
Featured here a superb walnut veneered Longcase clock. Shown with arched brass dial 8 day movement by James Snelling of London. The dial with chapter ring and spandrels. In addition stunning matted centre with subsidiary seconds feature. Also with rare calendar to the arch and strike silent to the three o clock position. The exceptional quality 5 pillar movement striking the hours on a single bell. The case of the finest choice walnut veneers. Furthermore showing all the typical high quality London case features. Moulding to the trunk door and two plinths. Lovely ‘book matched’ veneers to the trunk and the base to name but a few. Finally James Snelling was an eminent clockmaker who was Master of the Clockmaker’s Company in 1736. He was based in Poultry in London. His clocks are located in various museums around the world. He died in 1751. To sum up I do not think you could find a walnut with better veneers. The case is one of the finest around. Colour and patination sublime.
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
Related records
Clocks · 1598–1603
Circular table-clock with calendrical and lunar indications made by Nicholas Vallin in London between 1598 and 1603.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1611
English iron lantern clock, with wheel balance, by John Holloway, Market Lavington, Wiltshire, England, 1611.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1630
Lantern clock by Francis Forman, England, 1630
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1632–1640
Turret clock, England, 1632–1640
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1645–1655
Balance-wheel brass lantern clock, with two driving weights and one counterweight, by Thomas Knifton, Cross Keys, Lothbury, London, England, 1645–1655.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · c. 1650
Lantern alarm clock, silver, by David Bouquet, circa 1650
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1650–1660
Lantern clock by Peter Closon, England, 1650–1660
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · c. 1660
Longcase clock, c. 1660, English, made by Ahasuerus Fromanteel
Victoria and Albert Museum, London