Clocks · Bracket clock
Verge bracket clock by Nicolason, London, c. 1780
- Maker / attribution
- Nicolason (maker)
- Date
- c. 1780
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 24 in (61 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 427
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 427)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Verge Bracket/Table Clock by Nicolason of London (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 427), this is a bracket clock by Nicolason, made in London, England, dated c. 1780. 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 24 in (61 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
A magnificent flame mahogany veneered quarter striking bracket/table clock. The large triple fusee movement of 8 day duration with verge escapement, striking the quarters on 8 bells, the hour on a single bell and repeating on demand. Also striking the last hour on a smaller bell at half past the hour. The backplate profusely engraved with scrolls and foliage and secured to the case with matching brass brackets and seatboard screw. The dial features a silvered brass chapter ring, gilt brass spandrels and also with strike/silent facility to the arch. The centre of the dial showing the makers name and place of work, date aperture and typical serpentine pattern hands of the period. The exceptional mahogany veneered bell top case with gilt brass caryatids, ornate side frets, carrying handles and scroll feet. The typical bell top surmounted by 5 gilt brass finials and further applied with gilt brass mounts. A superb and impressive example. Note: Triple fusee bracket clocks from the 18th century whether they be quarter striking or musical are very rare. They were certainly not made in large numbers due to the complexity of their movements. M. Nicolason is not a listed maker and it may in fact be a retailers name or even the owner of the clock. Maker Nicolason 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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