Clocks · Longcase clock
Oak longcase clock by Mayhew, Woodbridge, c. 1775
- Maker / attribution
- Mayhew (maker)
- Date
- c. 1775
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Woodbridge
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- oak
- Dimensions
- Height 6 ft 10 in (208 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 461
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 461)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Oak Longcase Clock by Mayhew of Woodbridge (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 461), this is a longcase clock by Mayhew, made in Woodbridge, England, dated c. 1775. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: oak. Recorded dimensions: Height 6 ft 10 in (208 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 — P A Oxley
An excellent Home Counties oak longcase clock by this well known Clockmaker. The 8 day duration movement strikes the hours on a bell and has a 12" square full brass dial with a silvered brass chapter ring showing Roman Numerals and Arabic minutes. Also with an engraved silvered brass centre, seconds, date aperture, blued steel hands and makers name and place of work. The corners with brass spandrels. The oak case is typical of the Home Counties style and features a long trunk door and a plain base with a single plinth. The flat top hood has its original sound fret and reeded oak angle pillars attached to the glazed hood door and brass Doric capitals to both the front and rear quarter pillars. The movement can be viewed from the side inspection window Note: William Mayhew was a prolific maker of high quality clocks, especially longcase clocks and tavern clocks. Born into the world of Clockmaking in 1725 as his Father Francis, was also a Clockmaker. William died in 1791. He was obviously a very successful Clockmaker and was described in his obituary as âa self taught geniusâ. Maker Mayhew of Woodbridge
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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