Clocks · Longcase clock
Oak longcase clock by W & C Nicholas, Birmingham, c. 1780
- Maker / attribution
- W & C Nicholas (maker)
- Date
- c. 1780
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Birmingham
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany, oak
- Dimensions
- Height 8 ft 4 in (254 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 586
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 586)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Impressive oak longcase clock by W & C Nicholas of Birmingham (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 586), this is a longcase clock by W & C Nicholas, made in Birmingham, 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, oak. Recorded dimensions: Height 8 ft 4 in (254 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 — P A Oxley
A very impressive and large oak longcase clock by these well known Birmingham Clockmakers. Featuring an 8 day duration movement, moonphase, seconds and date. The late 18th century painted dial is in excellent condition. The moonphase disc depicts two friendly looking moons, a country house and a galleon. The majestic solid oak case is also veneered with mahogany in areas such as the hood door and crossbanding to the trunk door and base. The swan neck top has intricate fretwork, brass paterea and three brass finials. The trunk features a shaped trunk door, reeded quarter columns and brass capitals. The base is finished with ogee feet and a raised panel. Note: This clock has only recently arrived at our showrooms. Both the dial and case are presented in a restored condition. The movement will require a full overhaul and service before delivery.
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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