Clocks · Wall clock
Hook & Spike wall clock by Simcock, Daintree, c. 1730
- Maker / attribution
- Simcock (maker)
- Date
- c. 1730
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- Daintree
- Object type
- Wall clock
- Stock no.
- Product 46
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 46)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Rare Hook & Spike Wall Clock by Simcock of Daintree (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 46), this is a wall clock by Simcock, made in Daintree, dated c. 1730. 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 — P A Oxley
Just back from restoration - a rare early 18th century survivor from the Golden era of English Clockmaking. Striking the hours on its original large bell the movement is in fine condition for its age with all its original wheel work. The movement is of 30 hour duration and features an anchor escapement and a single hand to the 9.75 inch dial. Also displaying spandrels as used by the famous makers Thomas Tompion and George Graham. Signed by the maker Simcock of Daintree, the old spelling of Daventry in Northamptonshire. Hook and Spike wall clocks were so called as they consist of a hook and two spikes. The hook hangs on a suitable wall fixing and the two spikes at the base of the movement pierce the wall or wooden beam to stabilise the whole clock. This was almost certainly thought of to stop the clock from moving on the wall each time it was wound. A very good idea when the clock needs to be wound each day. A rare example. Note: John Simcock is listed as working in Daintree in the first quarter of the 18th century. There was also possibly a brother or Father by the name of Henry Simcock working in the same location and at the same period. Maker Simcock of Daintree
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
Regulators, wall and Vienna clocks
A regulator is a precision pendulum clock used as a time standard in observatories, workshops and railway offices. Typical features are a deadbeat or Graham escapement, a temperature-compensated pendulum (mercury jar, gridiron or later invar), maintaining power and a regulator dial that separates hours, minutes and seconds. George Graham's deadbeat escapement (c. 1715) and his mercury pendulum, together with Harrison's gridiron, set the pattern for two centuries.
Wall clocks span a much wider range: the elegant Viennese Laterndluhr and Dachluhr of the Biedermeier period, the Dutch stoelklok and staartklok, English 'dial' clocks used in schools, offices and railway stations, and mass-produced spring and weight wall clocks from Germany (Gustav Becker, Junghans, Kienzle) and America.
What to look for
- Deadbeat escapement and compensated pendulum (gridiron rods, mercury jar or wood rod).
- A regulator dial with a large central minute hand and separate hour and seconds dials.
- Vienna regulators: glazed cases, slender pendulum, small weights, enamel two-piece dials.
- German factory trademarks stamped on the backplate (e.g. Gustav Becker anchor and crown, Junghans star).
Dating clues
- Graham-type deadbeat regulators: from c. 1720.
- Viennese Laterndluhr: c. 1800–1850.
- German factory 'Vienna-style' regulators: c. 1870–1930; Gustav Becker serial numbers allow close dating.
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.
Related records
Clocks · Early 17th century
Table clock, probably Denmark, early 17th century
German Clock Museum
Clocks · 1590–1610
Clock, France, 1590–1610
MAK – Museum of Applied Arts
Clocks · c. 1600
Table Clock, sheet brass, engraved, pierced and gilt, Paris, ca.1600, signed 'B(?) Pichard, à Paris'
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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 · 1600–1699
Clock by Joannes Volcker, Belgium, 1600–1699 (no. AP_10156031)
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage
Clocks · 1600–1699
Clock by Joannes Volcker, Belgium, 1600–1699 (no. AP_10156032)
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage
Clocks · 1600–1699
Clock attributed to Jobst Bürgi, Czech Republic, 1600–1699
Fine Arts Museum Vienna
Clocks · 1600–1700
Clock, Germany, 1600–1700
Victoria and Albert Museum, London