Clocks · Bracket clock
Pollard oak bracket clock by Payne & Co, c. 1840
- Maker / attribution
- Payne & Co (maker)
- Date
- c. 1840
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- oak
- Stock no.
- Product 121
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 121)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Rare Pollard oak bracket clock by Payne & Co - London (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 121), this is a bracket clock by Payne & Co, made in England, dated c. 1840. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: oak. 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
W. Payne & Co-163 New Bond Street, London A very unusual and high quality bracket/table clock by this well known Clockmaker. The 8 day duration double fusee movement of high quality design and with anchor escapement, signed to the backplate by the maker and striking the hours on a substantial gong. The backplate also fitted with a pendulum transportation facility. The silvered brass rectangular shaped dial signed by the maker with Roman Chapters and matching blued steel hands. The dial also with extremely finely engraved scrollwork foliage and flowers. The high quality and unusually shaped case is veneered with pollard oak. This is very rarely used on bracket/table clocks of any period. The incredible burrs and colour of the veneer really makes for an impressive statement. The case is also further mounted with high quality gilt brass scrolls and fretwork. The sides of the case are both glazed as is the door to the front which also features a silvered brass surround. The rear door is also glazed Both locks are in working order. Note: William Payne is first recorded at 62, South Moulton Street, London in 1816. By 1825 he had moved to 163, New Bond Street where the company remained until the early 1920's. William Payne was an Exhibitor at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. We have had several high quality examples of his work over the years. There appears to be some sort of connection between Payne and a famous Clockmaker by the name of Vulliamy as their high degree of quality and style are rather similar.
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
Bracket, table and spring-driven clocks
Spring-driven clocks freed timekeeping from the hanging weight. The coiled mainspring, documented from the fifteenth century, made portable table clocks possible; to even out its declining force, makers used the fusee, a conical pulley connected to the barrel by a gut line or chain. Renaissance table clocks from Augsburg and Nuremberg — drum-shaped, square or tower-shaped in gilt brass — were luxury scientific objects, often with astronomical dials and alarms.
After the pendulum, English makers developed the bracket clock: a wooden case with a carrying handle, a short pendulum with a verge escapement, and often repeating work to sound the hours on demand at night. Later examples use the anchor escapement. In the nineteenth century, 'table clock' became a broad term for spring clocks of every nationality.
What to look for
- A fusee in the movement (cone-shaped pulley) and the type of line — gut or chain.
- Verge escapement with a short bob pendulum, often with a decoratively engraved backplate.
- Repeat cords or buttons that make the clock strike again on demand.
- Gilt-brass engraved cases and horizontal dials on Renaissance pieces.
- Case shapes: inverted bell, bell top, break-arch, lancet or balloon.
Dating clues
- Drum and tower table clocks: c. 1520–1650.
- Ebony veneered English bracket clocks with verge escapements: c. 1670–1800.
- Engraved backplates were usual on English clocks until c. 1800, then generally plain.
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:Verge escapement
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