Clocks · Longcase clock
Walnut longcase clock by Edward East
- Maker / attribution
- Edward East (maker)
- Date
- c. 1685
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- walnut
- Dimensions
- Height 193 cm
- Stock no.
- Product 3286
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, The Antique Clock Company (product 3286)
- Catalogue title (original)
- STUNNING WALNUT LONGCASE CLOCK – EDWARD EAST (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by The Antique Clock Company (dealer), Dorset (stock number Product 3286), this is a longcase clock by Edward East, made in England, dated c. 1685. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: walnut. Recorded dimensions: Height 193 cm. The record is illustrated with 5 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 — The Antique Clock Company
This exceptional longcase clock by Edward East features a beautifully designed Walnut veneered case with a sliding hood and an overhanging cornice. The hood is supported by three-quarter and quarter barley twist columns, adorned with gilt-brass Corinthian capitals and bases. Beneath the hood is a long trunk door crafted from ‘bookmatched’ walnut veneers, framed with a half-round moulded edge. The base of the case is designed with three upright veneered panels, all resting on a plinth, combining classic elegance with striking visual appeal. The clock’s 10-inch square brass dial is signed “Eduardus East Londini” in cursive script along the lower edge, flanked by small winged cherub head spandrels. The dial features a narrow silvered Roman chapter ring with an outer Arabic minute track and trident half-hour markers. The finely matted centre includes large subsidiary seconds dial, and the entire dial is securely mounted to the front plate by four latched dial feet. Inside, the movement is supported by five knopped and finned pillars latched to the front plate. The clock operates with an anchor escapement, with bolt-and-shutter, maintaining power. The external countwheel strike mechanism chimes the hours on a bell, completing this elegant timepiece’s functionality. Edward East was one of the founding members of the Clockmakers’ Company and served as Master in 1645 and again in 1652. He was appointed Clockmaker to both King Charles I and Charles II and was known for crafting high-quality watches and clocks. His timepieces were often used by the King as prizes in tennis matches, a testament to their esteemed quality. East also created night clocks, featuring revolving chapter rings with perforated numerals illuminated by a lamp to display the time. His craftsmanship was highly regarded, and he continued to influence English clockmaking throughout his life. Height: 76″ or 193 cm
Provenance
Private collection, UK
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:Deadbeat escapementAnchor escapement
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