Clocks · Longcase clock
London grandfather clock by Perigal, c. 1770
- Maker / attribution
- Perigal (maker)
- Date
- c. 1770
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 8 ft 8 in (264 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 207
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 207)
- Catalogue title (original)
- London Antique Grandfather Clock by Perigal (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 207), this is a longcase clock by Perigal, made in England, dated c. 1770. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 8 ft 8 in (264 cm). 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
An excellently proportioned and high quality London Longcase Clock by this noted maker. The 8 day duration 5 pillar movement striking the hours on a bell and with the unusual addition to the backplate of the makers signature. A very unusual feature on longcase clocks. The full brass dial features a separate silvered brass chapter ring and finely matted centre. The centre also containing a sunken seconds, finely cut blued steel hands, date aperture and the makers name Francis Perigal, Royal Exchange, London. Strike/Silent dial to the arch enclosed with brass spandrels which are also repeated to the corners. The very well proportioned mahogany case of light mahogany colour with long trunk door veneered with flame mahogany and flanked by reeded and brass inlaid quarter pillars capped with large brass capitals. The raised panelled base with a shaped double plinth, and also with well figured flame veneers. The hood with brass inlaid reeded angle pillars with brass Doric capitals, also with quarter pillars to the rear of the hood and well cut blind sound frets to each side. The pagoda top with a blind sound fret and surmounted by three brass finials. Note: The Perigal family worked from the early part of the 18th century into the 19th century and beyond. Partnerships were also formed with other noted makers such as Duterrau. There were three Perigals with the Christian name Francis and we believe that this clock was made by the second Francis. He was a member of the Clockmakers Company in 1781, Master of Clockmakers Company in 1806 and is also recorded as Watchmaker to the King. Maker Perigal
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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