Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Samuell Gascoigne, London, c. 1685
- Maker / attribution
- Samuell Gascoigne (maker)
- Date
- c. 1685
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- walnut, marquetry
- Dimensions
- Height 197 cm
- Stock no.
- Product 4926
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (product 4926)
- Catalogue title (original)
- SAMUELL GASCOIGNE. A rare and beautiful James II period walnut and marquetry hour-striking 8-day longcase clock. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number Product 4926), this is a longcase clock by Samuell Gascoigne, made in London, England, dated c. 1685. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: walnut, marquetry. Recorded dimensions: Height 197 cm. The record is illustrated with 6 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 rare and beautiful James II period walnut and marquetry hour-striking 8-day longcase clock. The case is constructed primarily of oak and veneered in walnut with walnut mouldings and inset panels of flower and bird marquetry to the trunk and base. Standing on bun feet there is a lenticle to the trunk door and the now front-opening hood is flanked by barley twist columns with a sound fret above. The 10-inch square brass dial is mounted with a silvered chapter ring and winged cherub and foliage spandrels. The centre is finely matted and has ringed winding holes. The dial is signed by the maker Samuell Gascoigne , along the bottom of the dial plate. The high-quality, five pillar movement has 8-day duration and hour strike via an outside countwheel. The clock is complete with its period brass cased weights and brass pendulum bob. Date : circa 1685 Height : 77 ½ in (197 cm) Width : 17 ⅞ in (45.5 cm) Depth : 10 ¼ in (26 cm) * Samuel Gascoigne was born circa 1655 and was apprenticed to Robert Seigniour until 1676. He was subsequently a member of the Clockmakers’ Company until his death in 1698. He signed the oath of allegiance to the king in 1697. HW5434
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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