Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Worsfold, Dorking, c. 1730–1735
- Maker / attribution
- Worsfold (maker)
- Date
- c. 1730–1735
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- Dorking
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- lacquer
- Dimensions
- Height 188.5 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 529
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 529)
- Catalogue title (original)
- WORSFOLD. A charming George II period lacquer longcase clock of rare small size. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 529), this is a longcase clock by Worsfold, made in Dorking, dated c. 1730–1735. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: lacquer. Recorded dimensions: Height 188.5 cm. The record is illustrated with 4 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 charming George II period lacquer longcase clock of rare small size. This clock is a rare survivor with its pine case, original delicate japanning and pristine diminutive movement and dial. The original posted birdcage 30-hour movement has an anchor escapement, a long pendulum with brass bob and period lead weight. It sounds the hours on a single bell via an outside countwheel. The 8 ¼-inch brass dial has a well matted centre and an original pierced steel single hand. The patinated brass chapter ring has Roman hour numerals with fleur-de-lys half-hour markers and unusual gilt brass mask and scroll corner spandrels. The hood of the small black japanned case has a bold ogee cornice moulding and plain frieze above the glazed opening door which is flanked by turned pillars. The trunk has a full length door with a faded gilt oriental garden landscape which is repeated on the base panel set above a tall plinth. The sides are similarly japanned and are decorated with floral sprays. Date: circa 1730-1735 Height: 74 ¼ in (188.5 cm) Width : 17 ½ in (44.5 cm) Depth : 12 ¼ in (31 cm) * John Worsfold is listed on page 857 of Brian Loomes’ Clockmakers of The World: 21 st Century Edition . He was working in Dorking, Surrey in the first quarter of the 18 th century and was succeeded by Thomas Worsfold, possibly his son in 1728. HW6115
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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