Clocks · Longcase clock
Walnut longcase clock by Williamson, London, c. 1700
- Maker / attribution
- Williamson (maker)
- Date
- c. 1700
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- walnut
- Dimensions
- Height 7 ft 2 in (218 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 259
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 259)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Walnut Longcase Clock by Williamson of London (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 259), this is a longcase clock by Williamson, made in London, England, dated c. 1700. 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 2 in (218 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 — P A Oxley
A fine walnut longcase clock with features as used by the famous maker Thomas Tompion. The high quality 8 day movement with 5 finned pillars, anchor escapement and an unusual design of rack striking sounding the hour on a bell. The 12" square brass dial with separate Tompion style silvered brass chapter ring enclosing a matted centre showing both seconds, date and very finely made blued steel hands. The makers name signed to the base of the chapter ring. The spandrels to the corners as used by Tompion. The well proportioned and elegant case also of Tompion like design with well figured book matched walnut veneer to both the base and trunk. The base with a single plinth and the sides of the trunk with flame walnut veneered panels. The hood with plain walnut pillars topped with gilt wood capitals to the front and rear. The flat top case with fretwork to the front elevation and glazed inspection windows to both sides. Note: William Williamson obviously had some influence from the famous Thomas Tompion due to the features on the case and dial of this particular clock. He may have also been a relative of the Great Joseph Williamson who specialised in Equation Clocks and was Watchmaker to the King of Spain. William was Free from the Clockmakers Company in 1689. Maker Williamson of London
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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