Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Joseph Dudds, England, 1730
- Maker / attribution
- Joseph Dudds (maker)
- Date
- 1730
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- kellotaulu, metal, brass, wood, mahogany, kapiteelit, jalustat osaksi, kellotaulun koristeet, bronze
- Dimensions
- height: 250 cm; depth: 25 cm; width, kaappi: 5 cm; diameter, dial: 28 cm
- Holding institution
- Suomen kansallismuseo
- Accession / object no.
- H65050:180
- Credit line
- Suomen kansallismuseo (via Finna)
- Catalogue title (original)
- kello; kaappikello (Finnish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Suomen kansallismuseo (object number H65050:180), this is a longcase clock by Joseph Dudds, made in London, England, dated 1730. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: kellotaulu, metal, brass, wood, mahogany, kapiteelit, jalustat osaksi, kellotaulun koristeet, bronze. Recorded dimensions: height: 250 cm; depth: 25 cm; width, kaappi: 5 cm; diameter, dial: 28 cm. 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
Description — Suomen kansallismuseo
fyysinen kuvaus: Queen Anne -tyylinen. Suorasivuinen, jalusta ja kellokotelo keskiosaa leveämmät. Kellokotelon etukulmissa rihlatut puolipylväät, jotka kannattavat profiloitua, edestä kaareksi kohoavaa ylälistaa. Kaaren päällä kolmen sorvatun obeliski-huippuisen pallon koristama huippukoriste, jonka keskustassa on lävistekoristeinen metallilevy. Keskiosan sivuilla uurretut puolipylväät; kapiteelit ja jalustat osaksi messinkiä, osaksi kullattua puuta. Ovipeili kaaripäätteinen. Kellotaulu messinkiä, koristeena valetut kullatut pronssilevyt, signeeraus ympyrässä taulun yläpuolella: Jos:h Dudds. London. Lävistekoristeiset osoittimet. Sekuntiosoitin ja päiväysaukko. Roomalaiset tuntinumerot.
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Inscriptions & marks
signeeraus: Jos:h Dudds London, ympyrässä taulun yläpuolella
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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