Clocks · Bracket clock
Quarter striking bracket clock by Widenham, London, c. 1825
- Maker / attribution
- Widenham (maker)
- Date
- c. 1825
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany, ebonised, ebony
- Dimensions
- Height 23 in (58 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 559
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 559)
- Catalogue title (original)
- An exceptional quarter striking bracket by Widenham of London (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 559), this is a bracket clock by Widenham, made in London, England, dated c. 1825. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany, ebonised, ebony. Recorded dimensions: Height 23 in (58 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
Just Arrived - June 2023 An extremely rare and impressive Regency bracket clock by Widenham of London with Egyptian Influence. This clock features a substantial triple fusee movement which strikes the quarters on a row of 8 bells and the main hour on a larger bell. The striking mechanism can also be repeated at will and also made silent if desired. The dial has beautifully made blued steel hands of an unusual design and a very rare regulation dial below number XI. The impressive mahogany veneered cabinet features a solid brass Sphinx to the architectural pediment and ebony and brass inlay throughout. The brass capped mahogany pillars are mounted with Doric capitals to the base and Corinthian capitals to the top. There are also elaborate and ebonised carvings above and below the main dial depicting leaves. Also featuring brass fish scale sound frets to each side and decorative carrying handles. The whole case standing on solid brass ball feet. Note: Richard Widenham was a very fine maker and noted particularly for his chronometers winning the Admiralty Premium Trials in 1824. He worked at 6 East Street, Clerkenwell between 1830-35 and afterwards at 15 Lombard Street. He subsequently advertised as 'Watchmaker to the Hon. Board of Admiralty. It’s quite possible that this clock may have been made for perhaps an Officer in the Admiralty or indeed for the actual Admiralty offices in London. Fully restored and Guaranteed for 3 years.
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.
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