Clocks · Longcase clock
Mahogany moonphase longcase clock by Benjamin Reed, Plymouth
- Maker / attribution
- Benjamin Reed (maker)
- Date
- c. 1780
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Plymouth
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 203 cm
- Stock no.
- Product 1574
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, The Antique Clock Company (product 1574)
- Catalogue title (original)
- MAHOGANY MOONPHASE LONGCASE CLOCK BY BENJAMIN REED OF PLYMOUTH (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by The Antique Clock Company (dealer), Dorset (stock number Product 1574), this is a longcase clock by Benjamin Reed, made in Plymouth, England, dated c. 1780. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 203 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 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 — The Antique Clock Company
8-day Moon-phase Longcase Clock by Benjamin Reed of Plymouth This stunning 8-day longcase clock movement is weight driven with anchor escapement and uses a rack and snail striking system designed to strike the hours on a bell. The 12” brass break-arch dial has a silvered chapter ring with both Roman and Arabic numerals, silvered centre with engraved decorations and the makers name and place of work with finely blued steel hands to contrast the silver of the dial. Within the break-arch there is a beautifully original painted moon-phase to help the owner to know when best to travel at night. The fine mahogany case of lovely proportions has fluted canted corners flanking the trunk and fluted pillars topped with brass capitals to the hood. Height: 80” (6ft 8”) or 203cm **This clock is delivered and set up for free within the UK. We regularly ship clocks all over the world with our trusted Fine Antiques Packers & Shippers. Please ask for a quote should you require this service.
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern 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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