Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Stephen Rayner, London, c. 1695–1700
- Maker / attribution
- Stephen Rayner (maker)
- Date
- c. 1695–1700
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- marquetry
- Dimensions
- Height 236 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 81
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 81)
- Catalogue title (original)
- STEPHEN RAYNER. A fine William III period marquetry longcase clock of 8-day duration. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 81), this is a longcase clock by Stephen Rayner, made in London, England, dated c. 1695–1700. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: marquetry. Recorded dimensions: Height 236 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 William III period marquetry longcase clock of 8-day duration. The elegant slim caddy top case is veneered with walnut and decorated with coloured scrolling flowers and foliage marquetry set against an ebony veneered background. The case mouldings and the delicate sound frets are in finely figured walnut and very well patinated. The hood retains its original caddy top and has two brass ball finials. There is an oval brass lenticle in the middle of the trunk door to show the swinging pendulum. The 12 inch brass dial is mounted with a silvered chapter ring and has a finely matted centre with an inset date aperture above VI and subsidiary seconds dial below XII. The edge of the dial is engraved with a herringbone border and in the four corners there are gilt spandrels with cherubs holding up a crown and cross. The blued steel hands appear to be original. The high quality five pillar movement runs for 8 days and has inside countwheel strike on a single bell. The clock is complete with a brass bob pendulum and two flat topped brass weights. Height: 93 in (236 cm) * Stephen Rayner is listed on page 459 of Brian Loomes’ The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain . He became a Brother in the Clockmakers’ Company in 1691 and is known to have worked until at least 1700. His workshop was said to be at Ye Dial, Bishopsgate Within. Literature : B. Loomes, Clockmakers of Britain 1286 – 1700 , p.410-411 B. Loomes, Clockmakers of the World: 21 st Century Edition , p.642 HW4747
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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