Clocks · Bracket clock
Verge bracket clock by John Dowson, London, c. 1750
- Maker / attribution
- John Dowson (maker)
- Date
- c. 1750
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- ebonised
- Dimensions
- Height 18 in (46 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 415
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 415)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Verge Bracket/Table Clock by John Dowson of London (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 415), this is a bracket clock by John Dowson, made in London, England, dated c. 1750. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: ebonised. Recorded dimensions: Height 18 in (46 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
An excellent mid 18th century ebonised table/bracket clock. The 8 day duration five pillar double fusee movement with verge escapement and striking and repeating the hour on a bell. The backplate engraved with scrolls, foliage, flowers and a central engraving of a basket of fruit. The dial with a silvered brass chapter ring, blued steel hands, date square above number VI, mock pendulum aperture, brass corner spandrels and the centre of the dial displaying a cartouche with the makers name and place of work. The arch also with Strike/Silent facility and further spandrels. The very plain fruitwood veneered case with ebonised finish and carrying handle to the inverted bell top. The sides of the case with inspection windows, sound frets to both front and back and standing on four ebonised feet. Note: John Dowson is listed as working in both London and Bath. It appears he served his apprenticeship in London and then later moved to Bath. He continued to do business in both cities throughout the 18th century. Maker John Dowson of London
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:Anchor (recoil) escapement
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