Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by John Ebsworth, England, 1690–1695
- Maker / attribution
- John Ebsworth (made)
- Date
- 1690–1695
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- The case veneered with walnut and burr walnut, decorated with panels of floral marquetry and a brass surrounded oval of bottle glass in the door.
- Dimensions
- Height: 220.9 cm; Width: 50.2 cm; Depth: 22.9 cm; Weight: 6.4 kg (w.95:4 Brass weight 10/10/2025 NH); Weight: 6.5 kg (w.95:5 Brass weight 10/10/2025 NH)
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- W.95:1 to 5-1962
- Credit line
- Bequeathed by C. D. Rotch
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number W.95:1 to 5-1962), this is a longcase clock by John Ebsworth, made in London, England, dated 1690–1695. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: The case veneered with walnut and burr walnut, decorated with panels of floral marquetry and a brass surrounded oval of bottle glass in the door. Recorded dimensions: Height: 220.9 cm; Width: 50.2 cm; Depth: 22.9 cm; Weight: 6.4 kg (w.95:4 Brass weight 10/10/2025 NH); Weight: 6.5 kg (w.95:5 Brass weight 10/10/2025 NH). The record is illustrated with 3 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
Physical description — Victoria and Albert Museum
Dial: 11 inch square brass dial with wheat ear pattern engraved border with three small engraved squares in the centre of each border. The bottom border, below the chapter ring engraved John Ebsworth Londini Fecit. Silvered chapter ring with Roman hour numerals, minute chapter with divisions for each minute and Arabic numerals every five. The inner portion of the chapter ring is engraved with Arabic numerals for the age of the moon. Within this chapter ring is a partially matted annular portion with ringed holes surrounding detailed winding squares. The central part is not matted but is arranged to show the phase of the moon through a circular aperture in a centrally mounted silvered disc with foliar engraved details. Accordingly, the dial centre has at its upper part an engraved face that represents the full moon and a variable extent of black wax filling for the waxing and waning phases. The dial corners have cast brass, winged cherub head spandrels. The dial feet are pinned to the front plate of the movement. Pierced steel hands. Movement: Brass and steel weight driven two-train movement, of month duration with count wheel (or locking plate) striking on bell. The count wheel is located almost centrally on the outside of the back plate. Six pillars of finned form are riveted to the back plate and latched to the front. Going train with intermediate wheel, striking train with striking pin wheel carrying a large number of pins; the hoop wheel with two spaces for locking. Where present, wheel collets tend to be of flat-sided dome profile; arbors are non-parallel in section, tending to fatten towards their centres. Wheels have semi-circular crossings with scribe lines at the top of the crossings and the bottom of the teeth on the band, except the escape wheel. Anchor recoil escapement the pallets with considerable addition of metal to the acting faces. The central disc is operated from the underdial motion work: the hour wheel carries a pinion. This meshes with a large wheel off to one side, which also carries a pinion. This meshes with a separate wheel concentric with the hour wheel, the former carrying the moon disc. Description and notes by Francis Brodie, c. 2008
Brief description — Victoria and Albert Museum
Longcase clock, 1690-1695, English, inscribed 'John Ebsworth London fecit'
Provenance
J Ebbsworth longcase clock, Claude Rotch bequest Notes from R.P. 61/3157 One of 138 pieces of English Furniture bequeathed by C D Rotch in 1961. Appears on Inventory "87. Clock by J Ebbsworth. Longcase marquetrie, genuine carved cresting on top of hood, a very unusual matter, Phases of Moon. Month movement. Illustrated by Britten. Last Edition. Exhibited Burlington House Chas II Exhibition No. 242 - - - £650". The notation "photo" appears in the margin. 7/12/62 V & A Press Release refers to two longcase clocks which are "classic examples of the late 17th century one which retains (in part) its original carved cresting (no.13)". There is a note in the files from 1956 that states that papers concerning the bequest of Furniture & Pictures by Mr Rotch have been refiled on the Confidential File (SF50). Remarks : Nice details on some parts of the steelwork, such as striking levers, springs. Earlier shaped hour wheel bridge, more lozenge-like in appearance than rectangular. The escape wheel appears slightly different in colour than other train wheels; note also the lack of scribe lines. New pulleys! Scratchings on the u/s of the dial disc: “C F 1830 T.Hayes Camden Town” and “F Elkington Brentwood 14/10/70” Scratchings on the outside of the front plate: “W.Galbraith 651” “Elkington Jan” (?) “27/11/14” “London 1734 Nov” (?) “174 C.Town 1830” “W Hunter Brixton 1846” “PN” (?) “Nov 1843” Description and notes by Francis Brodie, c. 2008
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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