Skip to content
Watch MuseumHorology Atlas
Tall clock by William Claggett, United States, 1740–50 — view 1 of 2
View 1 of 2 · Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access · original image source (opens another website in a new tab)

Clocks · Tall clock

Tall clock by William Claggett, United States, 1740–50

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
William Claggett (Maker)
Date
1740–50
Historical period
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Country of origin
United States
Place
Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States
Object type
Tall clock
Materials / technique
Mahogany, red maple, tulip poplar
Dimensions
104 1/2 x 20 3/8 x 10 3/4 in. (265.4 x 51.8 x 27.3 cm)
Holding institution
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Accession / object no.
30.120.17
Credit line
The Sylmaris Collection, Gift of George Coe Graves, 1930
Catalogue title (original)
Tall Clock (English)

View the source record ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Held and catalogued by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (object number 30.120.17), this is a tall clock by William Claggett, made in Newport, Rhode Island, New England, United States, dated 1740–50. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Mahogany, red maple, tulip poplar. Recorded dimensions: 104 1/2 x 20 3/8 x 10 3/4 in. (265.4 x 51.8 x 27.3 cm). The record is illustrated with 2 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.

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

Related records

Tall clock by Joseph Ward, United States, 1740–55

Clocks · 1740–55

Tall clock by Joseph Ward, United States, 1740–55

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Clock by Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, United States, 1727–30

Clocks · 1727–30

Clock by Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, United States, 1727–30

Art Institute of Chicago

Harlequin Family Clock

Clocks · c. 1740

Harlequin Family Clock

Art Institute of Chicago

Tall clock by Benjamin Bagnall, United States, 1725–40

Clocks · 1725–40

Tall clock by Benjamin Bagnall, United States, 1725–40

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Tall clock by Peter Stretch, United States, c. 1730

Clocks · c. 1730

Tall clock by Peter Stretch, United States, c. 1730

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Tall Case Clock by Joseph Wills

Clocks · 1725–40

Tall Case Clock by Joseph Wills

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

Tall Case Clock by Samuel Bispham

Clocks · c. 1710

Tall Case Clock by Samuel Bispham

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

Table clock, probably Denmark, early 17th century

Clocks · Early 17th century

Table clock, probably Denmark, early 17th century

German Clock Museum