Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Julien Le Roy, 1700–1725
- Maker / attribution
- Julien Le Roy (clockmaker)
- Date
- 1700–1725
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- France
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- bronze (metal), wood (plant material), pear (wood), tin (metal), brass (alloy), glass, oak (wood)
- Dimensions
- height 202 cm x width 45 cm x depth 29 cm
- Holding institution
- Rijksmuseum
- Accession / object no.
- BK-NM-12331
- Credit line
- Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt
- Catalogue title (original)
- Staande klok, belijmd met zwart gebeitst perenhout (Dutch)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Rijksmuseum (object number BK-NM-12331), this is a longcase clock by Julien Le Roy, made in France, dated 1700–1725. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: bronze (metal), wood (plant material), pear (wood), tin (metal), brass (alloy), glass, oak (wood). Recorded dimensions: height 202 cm x width 45 cm x depth 29 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 — Rijksmuseum (Dutch)
Staande klok belijmd met zwart gebeitst noten- of perenhout op eikenhouten kern en versierd met koperen biezen en beslag. De klok rust op een hermvormig voetstuk, met een deur aan de voorkant, en heeft een vaasvormige contour met verguld bronzen beslag van acanthusblad op de hoeken en liggende C-voluten en palmet als bekroning. De deur heeft een ronde glasruit waarboven een vrouwenmasker voor een schelp, omringd door voluten, en waaronder klokjes aan een lint in verguld brons. Twee keer gemerkt.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
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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