Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Daniel Quare, England, c.1720
- Maker / attribution
- Daniel Quare (maker)
- Date
- c.1720
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- Walnut veneer on oak.
- Dimensions
- Height: 275 cm; Width: 54 cm; Depth: 26 cm
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- W.20:1, 2-1954
- Credit line
- Bequeathed by Mrs. M.S. Adam
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number W.20:1, 2-1954), this is a longcase clock by Daniel Quare, made in London, England, dated c.1720. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Walnut veneer on oak. Recorded dimensions: Height: 275 cm; Width: 54 cm; Depth: 26 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
Summary — Victoria and Albert Museum
Daniel Quare, member of the Clockmakers' Company in 1671 and Master in 1708, was the inventor of the repeating watch. His partner, Stephen Horseman, was Master of the Clockmakers' Company in 1709. The finials and lower part of the stand were repaired before acquisition.
Physical description — Victoria and Albert Museum
Oak carcase with walnut veneer. Rectangular hood with arched top surmounted by three carved and gilt wood ball-and-shaft finials of wood carved and gilt fretwork frieze below pediment, and flanked in front and at the back by engaged columns. Case of rectangular stand. Case door with flat arched top, the whole surrounded by raised moulding. Chased metal movement, the spandrels filled with four Indian masks and scrollwork, in arch dolpins and scrollwork, all chased in brass openwork. Makers' names engraved on silver oval plate: Danl. Quare & Ste. Horseman London 263, for Daniel Quare, master of clockmakers company 1671-1724, and his partner Stephen Horseman, master of the Clockmakers Company 1709.
Brief description — Victoria and Albert Museum
LONG CASE CLOCK Walnut veneer on oak carcase Inscribed 'Danl Quare and Ste.Horseman, London 263’, made in about 1720
Provenance
On loan to Hillsborough Castle, County Down, Northern Ireland.
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:Anchor (recoil) escapementDeadbeat escapementAnchor escapement
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