Clocks · Longcase clock
London mahogany longcase clock by William Skeggs, c. 1770
- Maker / attribution
- William Skeggs (maker)
- Date
- c. 1770
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 7 ft 8 in (234 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 396
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 396)
- Catalogue title (original)
- London Mahogany Longcase Clock by William Skeggs (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 396), this is a longcase clock by William Skeggs, 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 7 ft 8 in (234 cm). The record is illustrated with 4 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 impressive London Longcase Clock with exceptional flame veneered cabinet work. The 8 day duration 5 pillar movement striking the hours on a bell and with Strike/Silent facility to the arch. The arched brass dial also with separate silvered brass chapter ring, matted centre, subsidiary sunken seconds, date aperture, blued steel hands and brass spandrels to the corners and arch. The substantial case with a long trunk door veneered with the finest flame mahogany and with brass inlaid reeded quarter pillars capped with brass capitals. The raised panelled base also veneered with flame mahogany and standing on a double plinth. The hood with brass inlaid reeded pillars terminating with brass Doric capitals and with inspection windows to the side. The broken arch top with blind sound fret and with access to the dial via a glazed and lockable door. Note: There are two makers by the name of William Skeggs listed. This may have possibly been a Father and son. They were both working in the latter half of the 18th century. The cabinet of this particular clock is of a very high quality. Only the very best flame veneer has been selected. Maker William Skeggs
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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