Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Dwerrihouse, London, c. 1800
- Maker / attribution
- Dwerrihouse (maker)
- Date
- c. 1800
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Dimensions
- Height 202 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 328
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 328)
- Catalogue title (original)
- DWERRIHOUSE, BERKELEY SQUARE. A fine George III period longcase clock in a classical architectural case (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 328), this is a longcase clock by Dwerrihouse, made in London, England, dated c. 1800. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 202 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 III period longcase clock in a classical architectural case by this highly respected London clockmaker. The refined and elegant case retains its original Greek pedimented top. It has achieved excellent patination in its well-figured mahogany veneers and stands on a shaped double plinth with raised moulded panel to the base and long moulded trunk door. The delicate architectural hood is flanked by canted corners and a beautifully moulded door. The 12 inch brass and silvered square dial is engraved with Roman hour numerals and Arabic numerals for the five minute markers. It has a subsidiary seconds ring below XII and an aperture to view the day of the month above VI. The dial is signed by the maker and above twelve o’clock there is a lever for the strike/silent option. The high quality five pillar movement includes an original anchor escapement and rack strike. The hours are sounded on a bell. The clock is complete with its original flat steel pendulum rod, large brass bob pendulum with calibrated rating nut, weights and a pair of dome topped brass weights. Height : 79 ½ in (202 cm) * John Dwerrihouse is a very well-known clockmaker who was free of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1781. He began working in Charles Street and then moved to Berkeley Square in 1800. HW5235
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:Deadbeat escapementAnchor escapement
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