Clocks · Longcase clock
Grandfather Clock by Joseph Finney, Liverpool, c. 1780
- Maker / attribution
- Joseph Finney (maker)
- Date
- c. 1780
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Liverpool
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Stock no.
- 404
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Pendulum of Mayfair (404)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Antique Grandfather Clock by Joseph Finney – Liverpool C.1780 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Pendulum of Mayfair (dealer), London (stock number 404), this is a longcase clock by Joseph Finney, made in Liverpool, England, dated c. 1780. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) 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
Shown here an outstanding mahogany Longcase clock. Featuring here a 13 in arched brass dial example by Joseph Finney. Clearly of the finest quality by this eminent maker. The dial showing sweep seconds and centre calendar. In addition polished and engraved centre, chapter ring and spandrels. Also with moon feature to the arch. The superb quality ‘8 day’ movement with a magnificent and rare ‘pin wheel’ escapement. Beautiful quality flame veneered mahogany cabinet. Superb colour and of the highest quality construction. Joseph Finney is highly regarded. Furthermore he is probably the finest maker to come out of Liverpool in the 18th century. To sum up a superb collector’s clock. Antique Grandfather Clocks
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
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