Clocks · Tavern clock
Tavern clock by Jefferson, Bruton Street, London, c. 1800–1810
- Maker / attribution
- Jefferson (maker)
- Date
- c. 1800–1810
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Bruton Street, London
- Object type
- Tavern clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 114.5 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 459
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 459)
- Catalogue title (original)
- JEFFERSON. A fine late George III period, mahogany tavern clock. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 459), this is a tavern clock by Jefferson, made in Bruton Street, London, England, dated c. 1800–1810. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 114.5 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
Dealer description — Howard Walwyn
A fine late George III period, mahogany tavern clock by this good London clockmaker. The case , of classic tavern clock style, has access doors to the movement on both sides of the trunk. The veneer to the front has a fine flame figure which is carried down from below the dial to the inward sloping foot and two beautifully shaped earpieces. The 21 inch white dial, turned from a single piece of mahogany and with a narrow, crisply shaped moulded edge, is signed by the maker on the very finely crazed ground above and below the centre. The chapter ring has Roman hour numerals, double minutes circle and outside five minute marks. The original brass hands have elongated spade tips. The 8-day timepiece movement has substantial shouldered plates and a four wheel train with anchor escapement. It has a flat steel rod pendulum with a large brass faced bob and a rectangular lead weight. Height : 45 in (114.5 cm) Overall Width: 22 ½ in (57cm) Dial : 21 ¾ in (55 cm) * Samuel Jefferson is listed as Watchmaker to the Prince of Wales. He was active in Bruton Street in the first half of the 19 th century. Reference : B. Loomes, Clockmakers of the World: 21 st Century Edition , p.421 PC01
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
Domestic clocks
A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.
Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.
What to look for
- How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
- The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
- Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
- The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
- Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.
Dating clues
- Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
- Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
- Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.
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 escapementFoliot
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