Clocks · Longcase clock
Moonphase longcase clock by Marmaduke Metcalfe, London, c. 1780
- Maker / attribution
- Marmaduke Metcalfe (maker)
- Date
- c. 1780
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 7 ft 3 in (221 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 623
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 623)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Moonphase Longcase clock by Marmaduke Metcalfe of London (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 623), this is a longcase clock by Marmaduke Metcalfe, made in London, 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 7 ft 3 in (221 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 — P A Oxley
An excellent London longcase clock featuring Moonphase to the silvered arch dial. The high quality 8 day duration 5 pillar movement striking the hours on a bell. The 12" arched silvered brass dial has Roman numerals to the chapter ring, along with Arabic minutes. The dial also displays finely made blued steel hour and minute hands and a blued steel seconds hand. To the arch you will find a moonphase mechanism, a rare find in London at any period. The moonphase is decorated with a deep blue background and multiple gold stars of varying sizes. The centre of the dial is engraved with the makers name, seconds and also a date aperture. The elegant case of excellent proportions features high quality flame mahogany veneer to both the trunk door and base. The latter with a raised rectangular panel and a double plinth standing on two mahogany pads. The hood has typical brass inlaid reeded pillars with brass Doric capitals, quarter pillars to the rear, inspection windows to the side and a plain broken arched top. Note: Moonphase longcase clocks made in London are quite rare. The Moonphase feature to the arch combined with the plain silvered brass dial gives an almost contemporary and modern feel to the whole clock.
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:Anchor (recoil) escapementDeadbeat escapementAnchor escapement
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