Clocks · Longcase clock
Walnut longcase clock by Newman, Norwich, c. 1730
- Maker / attribution
- Newman (maker)
- Date
- c. 1730
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Norwich
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- walnut
- Dimensions
- Height 7 ft 3 in (221 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 235
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 235)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Walnut Grandfather/Longcase Clock by Newman of Norwich (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 235), this is a longcase clock by Newman, made in Norwich, England, dated c. 1730. 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 7 ft 3 in (221 cm). The record is illustrated with 3 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 example of early 18th century Provincial Clockmaking. The 8 day duration five pillar movement with anchor escapement, finned pillars and striking the hours on a bell. The arched brass dial with wheatear engraving, a separate silvered brass chapter ring and showing both seconds and date to the matted brass centre. The corners with elaborate brass spandrels. The arch with Dolphin Spandrels and makers name to a silvered brass roundel. The slim walnut case with an exceptionally well figured and book matched long trunk door with reeded and canted corners. The plain panelled base standing on a deep double plinth. The case also with boxwood stringing and cross grained mouldings throughout and a sunburst design to the very top of the trunk door which is typical of the Norwich area. The hood with brass capped walnut angle pillars, a broken arch top and inspection windows to the side. Note: William Newman was born in 1687 and was originally from London and most likely served his apprenticeship there. He moved to Norwich in 1728 as announced in the Norwich Gazette. His residence was at The Sign of the Dial at the bottom of St Laurence Steps. There is a Repeating Musical Clock recorded to have been made by this maker which is described as a Masterpiece. In 1739 William Newman unfortunately met an untimely death when he fell from Coslaney Bridge, Norwich and drowned. Norwich was a large Clockmaking centre and in 1607 was the birthplace of the famous Clockmaker Ahasuerus Fromanteel who is said to have introduced the pendulum. Maker Newman of Norwich
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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