Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Jonathan Lowndes, London, c. 1705
- Maker / attribution
- Jonathan Lowndes (maker)
- Date
- c. 1705
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- walnut
- Dimensions
- Height 220 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 490
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 490)
- Catalogue title (original)
- JONATHAN LOWNDES. A fine Queen Anne period walnut hour-striking longcase clock. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 490), this is a longcase clock by Jonathan Lowndes, made in London, England, dated c. 1705. 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 220 cm. 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
Dealer description — Howard Walwyn
A fine Queen Anne period, early 18th century walnut hour-striking longcase clock by this well-known London clockmaker. The moulded case is veneered with beautifully figured walnut, the herringbone cross-banded rectangular trunk door has raised convex mouldings. The flat-top hood has a finely pierced-wood soundfret below the overhanging cornice and brass capped columns either side of the dial. The 12-inch square clock dial has finely matted centre and date aperture above the VI. The maker’s signature is set on the chapter-ring between VII and V and the hands are of finely wrought blued-steel. The four original spandrels show cherubs with dolphin tails upholding crowns. The five-pillar movement is of week duration and has inside rack strike on the hours. With anchor escapement and seconds beating pendulum with period brass covered weights. Height: 86 ⅝ inch (220 cm) Width: 20 ½ inch (52 cm) Depth: 10 ⅝ inch (27 cm) * Jonathan Lowndes (c1656 –c1710) was born in Knutsford, Cheshire. By 1679 he was living in St Martin in the Fields in London and was listed as a watchmaker. He was made free of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1680 and was made Steward in 1696. By 1683 he was working at the Dial in Pall Mall, and later seems to have shared premises in St James’s with his brothers (including Charles & Samuel). He seems to have been active until at least 1710, and there is evidence that his workshop was continued after his death by his former apprentice Joseph Smith. Lowndes made clocks and watches of all types, including lantern and longcase clocks. Several of his clocks were included in the famous Wetherfield Collection. HW6032
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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