Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by George Etherington, England, c. 1695
- Maker / attribution
- George Etherington (maker)
- Date
- c. 1695
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- Veneering in walnut and other woods on carcase of oak; movement of brass and iron
- Dimensions
- Height: 208.8 cm; Width: 43.7 cm; Depth: 22.8 cm; Weight: 5.05 kg (CIRC.357:6 weight 10/10/2025 NH); Weight: 6.05 kg (CIRC.357:5 weight 10/10/2025 NH)
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- CIRC.357-1961
- Credit line
- Bequeathed by Miss Ellen Maud Baker
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number CIRC.357-1961), this is a longcase clock by George Etherington, made in London, England, dated c. 1695. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Veneering in walnut and other woods on carcase of oak; movement of brass and iron. Recorded dimensions: Height: 208.8 cm; Width: 43.7 cm; Depth: 22.8 cm; Weight: 5.05 kg (CIRC.357:6 weight 10/10/2025 NH); Weight: 6.05 kg (CIRC.357:5 weight 10/10/2025 NH). The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.
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
The use of a pendulum to regulate the movement of a clock was first successfully put into practice by the Dutch mathematician, Christiaaen Huygens in 1656. During the next century, clockmaking developed as a particular technical skill. Clocks became popular status symbols and were produced in large numbers throughout Europe. George Etherington (died 1739), the maker of this clock, was admitted to the Clockmakers' Company in London in 1684. Nearly thirty years later he was considered of sufficient status to stand as Master of the Company for one year. A large number of clocks by him are known, many of them longcase clocks, which now carry the popular name of 'grandfather clocks'. Like many such clocks, this one has lost the lower plinth to its base, and the coved top called a 'caddy top', which would originally have made it at least 20 cm taller.
Physical description — Victoria and Albert Museum
A longcase clock, with brass dial plate with silvered chapter ring, the case veneered in walnut, with floral marquetry, on a carcase of oak.
Brief description — Victoria and Albert Museum
The case veneered in walnut, with floral marquetry, on a carcase of oak; the movement with brass dial plate inscribed 'Geo. Etherington London'
Inscriptions & marks
Geo. Etherington London; ...awing & ning room Clocks cased by Damper ?? 1898
Provenance
Bequeathed by Ellen Maud Baker of 23 Copley Park, Streatham. Notes from R.P. 68/821. Above R.P. lists this among objects on loan to Tewkesbury Museum (Cheltenham Museum & Art Gallery) 1968 Correspondence refers to the fact that no keys were received at the time of the transfer. A handwritten notation reads "handed to Mr Fletcher (curator). Secretary will look into question of keys". 1979 Correspondence again concerns the whereabouts of the keys and J Hardy concedes "it is possible they were never sent". This object was lent to the National Trust at Gladstone's Land, Edinburgh, 1980-2015.
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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