Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Ambrose Vowell, London, c. 1740
- Maker / attribution
- Ambrose Vowell (maker)
- Date
- c. 1740
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- walnut
- Dimensions
- Height 249 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 77
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 77)
- Catalogue title (original)
- AMBROSE VOWELL. A FINE GEORGE II PERIOD FIGURED WALNUT LONGCASE CLOCK WITH BREAK ARCH DIAL AND ORIGINAL CADDY TOP. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 77), this is a longcase clock by Ambrose Vowell, made in London, England, dated c. 1740. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: walnut. Recorded dimensions: Height 249 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 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 — Howard Walwyn
A fine George II period figured walnut longcase clock with break arch dial and original caddy top. The case is veneered with highly figured walnut of excellent colour and patination. The pull-forward caddy top hood is flanked by turned, walnut veneered pillars with brass capitals. The original caddy top is surmounted by two gilt ball finials. The 12 inch break arch dial has an applied chapter ring with foliate corner spandrels and a subsidiary dial in the arch with an engraving of a bird and inscribed Tempus Fugit. The dial centre is finely matted with an inset seconds ring and the blued steel pointers are well pierced. The maker’s signature – Ambrose Vowell, London – is engraved on a silvered brass plaque in the dial centre. The five pillar movement has rack striking with the hours sounded on a bell and retains its original anchor escapement. The clock comes complete with a pair of brass capped weights and brass bob pendulum. Height: 98 in (249 cm) Width: 21 cm (53.5 cm) Depth: 10 ⅝ in (27 cm) * Ambrose Vowell was working in London from circa 1720 until his death in 1776. 18th century clocks of this quality and originality rarely come onto the market. HW5611 Signed / Inscribed Ambrose Vowell London
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:Deadbeat escapementAnchor escapement
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