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Tall Case Clock by Samuel Bispham — view 1 of 6
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Clocks · Tall case clock

Tall Case Clock by Samuel Bispham

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Samuel Bispham (clockmaker)
Date
c. 1710
Historical period
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Country of origin
United States
Place
Philadelphia
Object type
Tall case clock
Materials / technique
walnut, yellow pine, oak, poplar
Dimensions
82 × 21 × 9 1/2 in. (208.28 × 53.34 × 24.13 cm)
Holding institution
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
Accession / object no.
2016.15.1a-g
Credit line
Gift in honor of Helen D. Andrus, Rachel M. Andrus and Samuel S.V. Andrus
Catalogue title (original)
Tall Case Clock (English)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven (object number 2016.15.1a-g), this is a tall case clock by Samuel Bispham, made in Philadelphia, United States, dated c. 1710. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: walnut, yellow pine, oak, poplar. Recorded dimensions: 82 × 21 × 9 1/2 in. (208.28 × 53.34 × 24.13 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

The source record does not include a narrative description. The structured fields above are reproduced from it.

Provenance

Vincent D. Andrus, Jr., Greenwich, Conn.; by descent in his family; gift to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn. 2016

Historical context

Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)

Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.

Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance 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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