THE LONG-CASE CLOCK--THE GEORGIAN PERIOD
The stability of the "grandfather" clock--The burr-walnut
period--Thomas Chippendale--The mahogany period--Innovations of
form--The Sheraton style--Marquetry again employed in decoration.
To collectors and connoisseurs the most desirable period of the
long-case clock is from 1700 to about 1720. As we have seen in the
previous chapters, this embraces the two styles of marquetry and
lacquered work, although lacquered work continued to the middle of the
eighteenth century. The year 1720 is not an arbitrary date, but this
year is a convenient one. It marks the accession of the first of the
Four Georges and the advent of the House of Hanover. As the title to
a period of time, the Georgian period is as good as any other. Just a
hundred years afterwards George III died, and the Fourth George reigned
only ten years, till 1830.
In regard to the clock-case, the century was not filled with great
changes. The writers of memoirs of the time--Selwyn and Walpole, Lord
Hervey and Fanny Burney--furnish many sidelights on the Georgian
period. Thackeray in his _Four Georges_ illuminated the Georgian era
with more vigour than Early Victorians could stand. The eighteenth
century is repellent by its stupidity and coarseness, by its insipidity
and dulness, and yet it is relieved by a continuity of extraordinary
forcefulness and freshness of vigour, undimmed in our naval and
military history, unequalled in our art and letters. The following
names occur to prove this suggestion: Clive and Warren Hastings, Rodney
and Nelson, Moore and Wellington, Reynolds and Gainsborough, Dr.
Johnson and Burke.
We lost, but not for ever, the love of the American Colonies for
the great Mother Country, whose tongue is a common heritage, and
whose democratic freedom is akin to that across the Atlantic, and
this through the obstinacy of a German monarch thwarting the will
of the people. "The first and second Georges were not Englishmen,
and therefore were not popular, and excited no enthusiasm in their
subjects, but were simply tolerated as being better than the Popish
Stuarts"; so says Lord Macaulay in his _Essay on Chatham_. It is
ludicrous to learn that Walpole, beefy Englishman that he was, spoke
no French, and had, as George I spoke no English, to conduct State
affairs in Latin. What a stratum of misunderstanding on which to rest a
people's destinies!
[Illustration: LONG-CASE CLOCK.
Maker, Henderson (London).
Date, about 1770.
Height, 9 ft. Width, 1 ft. 8-1/2 in. Depth, 11 in.]
=The Stability of the "Grandfather" Clock.=--The long-case clock had
become a piece of furniture. It was of marquetry decoration, in keeping
with contemporary tables and cabinets, or it was lacquered in rich
colours in "Chinese taste" to keep touch with the Oriental parlours.
But concurrent with the age of marquetry and lacquer was the great
walnut period. The delightful veneer of burr-walnut in Queen Anne
days in cabinets and chests of drawers and other important pieces of
furniture did not neglect the clock-case. The gnarled figure of the
walnut was essentially a proper decoration to apply to the clock-case.
The long-case clock had not only become acclimatized, but it had become
thoroughly English. The simplicity of its construction, and its proud
record as a perfect timekeeper, gave it the supremacy over all other
clocks. English clockmakers, with the fine sense of practical utility
which governed their employment of mechanism, had reached a point
when further inventions became more of scientific use than popular.
The "grandfather" clock has no equal within its limits. It runs for
eight days. Its construction is so simple that when needing repair it
need not be sent to a specialist. It has no delicate parts to confound
the provincial maker. Hence it has lasted two centuries and more as a
standard English clock. There is, too, a certain lovableness about the
"grandfather" clock. The popular term suggests this. It is the heritage
of the poor. The "grandfather" clock of the yeomanry has passed down
through many generations. Indeed, the love of it as an article of
furniture has, in many instances, endowed it with a value far greater
than it possesses.
=The Burr-walnut Period.=--Veneer had become an established technique.
Woods with fine figure served as panels laid on wood of lesser rarity
or decorative importance. Oak was a good foundation for walnut veneer.
Earlier, as we have seen, walnut was laid as a ground on oak and the
marquetry design laid on the walnut. But in the burr-walnut period
carefully selected walnut sheets were employed to decorate surfaces of
bureaus and clock-cases. The age of walnut is synonymous with the days
of Hogarth.
Burr-walnut clock-cases are not so frequently found as could be wished.
The burr-walnut panels are marked in a series of knot-like rings,
obtained from the gnarled roots of the walnut-tree. The peculiar
pleasing effect of this and other mottled walnut is heightened by the
mellow effect time always gives to these walnut examples, which cannot
be produced with any appreciable success by modern imitators.
=Thomas Chippendale--The Mahogany Period.=--There is no doubt that
the name of Thomas Chippendale will always be representative of the
mahogany period of English furniture. But there were other makers
contemporary with him who did splendid work. The Chippendales, Thomas
the father and Thomas the son, picture-frame carver and cabinet-maker
at Worcester, migrated together to London in 1729. The son, Thomas,
published his _Director_ in 1754. He was the leading cabinet-maker and
designer of his day, and his day lasted till about 1780, when his son,
Thomas Chippendale the third entered into partnership with Haig,
and the firm became Chippendale and Haig, who also in turn produced
magnificent work. Close upon the heels of the Chippendales was the firm
of Hepplewhite. The brothers Adam, architectural designers and creators
of furniture suitable for its new classic environment, began to make
their impress upon interior decoration and on furniture, as they had
upon Princes Street, Edinburgh, the Quays at Dublin, and the Adelphi in
London, with their patent stucco mouldings and festoons.
[Illustration: LONG-CASE CLOCK.
Maker, Thomas Wagstaff (Gracechurch Street, London). Date, about 1780.
Height, 8 ft. 2 in. Width, 1 ft. 7-1/2 in. Depth, 10 in.
(_By courtesy of Percy Webster, Esq._)]
[Illustration: LONG-CASE CLOCK.
Movement by Stephen Rimbault, case by Robert Adam.
Date, about 1775.
(_By courtesy of Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons._)]
Accordingly, the student must bear in mind these great movements
taking place during the second half of our Georgian period, viz.
from about 1740 to the year 1791, at which date appeared the first
edition of Sheraton's _Cabinet Maker and Upholsterers Drawing Book_,
to herald another style, blended with the Adam, but departing from
it at important points. In examining clock-cases of this prolific
and restless period, it should be of exceptional interest to the
connoisseur to show how unnamed cabinet-makers in London and in the
provinces attempted to employ, with varying degrees of skill, the
designs promulgated broadcast by these great teachers of design and
construction in cabinet work.
=Innovations of Form.=--As exemplifying the variations of the mahogany
period clock-case, we illustrate several types showing reflections
of the great impulses that were in the air. The clock, illustrated
(p. 239), has a case of Spanish mahogany with fine figure. The hood
is enriched with fretwork, and with elegantly moulded door, and the
superstructure as a pediment exhibits the Chinese style. The terminals
are mahogany. The dial shows phases of the moon, and the movement is by
a provincial maker, E. Cockey, Warminster.
Of the year 1770 is another mahogany clock with handsomely carved
frieze and elaborate terminals. The love for architectural ornament is
seen in the hood, and in the pillars on the waist below on each side
of the panelled door. The base is decorated with a panel, in mahogany
of fine figure. The feet are beginning to become more pronounced. The
movement of this is by Henderson, of London, and its height is 9 feet
(illustrated p. 133).
Another clock, by Thomas Wagstaff, in date about 1780, exhibits a
less grandiose appearance. The height is less, being only 8 feet 2
inches. The pediment of the hood reverts to types which are often found
decorated with lacquer work, and the brass terminals are of similar
character to those of an earlier period. It is noticeable that the base
continues to show increased ornament in the feet, with an added scroll
(illustrated p. 137).
As showing another type of clock with magnificent decoration we
illustrate (p. 143) the hood of a long-case musical clock, attributed
to Rimbault, who was especially noteworthy for his musical movements,
and his cases were decorated by Zoffany. An examination of this
shows the detailed character of the painted work. It is Italian in
conception, and quite in keeping with other work of Zoffany.
[Illustration: TOP PORTION OF MUSICAL LONG-CASE CLOCK.
Richly decorated with painting attributed to Zoffany.
Maker, no signature, but suggestive of the work of Rimbault.
(_By courtesy of Messrs. Harris & Sinclair, Dublin._)]
[Illustration: LONG-CASE CLOCK.
Eight-day movement. Mahogany case inlaid with satinwood shell designs
and banding.
Maker, James Hatton, London (1800-12).
Brick design in base in Chippendale manner.
(_By courtesy of Messrs. D. Sherratt & Co., Chester._)]
Another illustration (p. 139) shows the typical classical style. The
case was designed by Robert Adam, and is in date about 1775.
The dial becomes circular, and owes certain of its decoration to
French form, although it is surmounted by a Greek urn, but the flying
garlands betray it. The waist becomes tapered, terminating in a base
of graceful proportions and reticent ornament. The fluted work and the
scroll indicate the design of the architect. One can imagine such a
chaste clock finding itself in the cold, un-English environment of Ken
Wood, or on the staircase of some learned society, with candelabra of
bronze of classic design, with hoofs as feet and with the Roman lamp
throwing out its modern flame. The movement of this clock is by Stephen
Rimbault, of Great St. Andrew Street, about 1775.
Another example of a clock by James Hatton, London (about 1810),
exhibits several new features. Its case is of rich feathered mahogany,
inlaid in the Sheraton manner with satinwood shells, banding, and
herring-bone stringing. The hood is massive and reverts to an earlier
period, and the ornament of the base, in brickwork style, was known to
have been employed by Chippendale. The finials are brass. The dial is
brass, and in the lunette are painted a ship and a cottage (illustrated
p. 145).
For the continuation of these styles one must turn to the provincial
makers (Chapter VIII), showing a variety of decoration and touches of
incongruity in style and anachronism in date--a glorious intermingling
of contemporary with bygone features, affording unequalled delight
to the collector. In the case of provincial made furniture, whole
districts carried on fashions for a quarter of a century or longer
after they had been forgotten in London, and the clock-case is no
exception.
Included in this period is the fine clock (illustrated p. 149) by
Robert Molyneux and Sons, London, 1825, now in the Bristol Museum. It
has one main dial recording minutes, and two smaller dials showing
hours and seconds respectively. The main dial has two hands, which
indicate Greenwich mean time and Bristol time. The type is known as a
"regulator" clock, with the twenty-four-hour dial and other additions
appertaining to the astronomical clock. The illustration shows the time
to be: Greenwich, 11.42 (i.e. 42 minutes past 11 o'clock); Bristol,
11.32 (i.e. 10 minutes difference). The clock has a mercury pendulum.
There was a somewhat similar clock constructed by Dell, of Bristol.
[Illustration: LONG-CASE REGULATOR CLOCK.
Movement by Robert Molyneux & Sons, London. 1825. Three dials, one
showing hours and one seconds, the great dial showing Greenwich time
and Bristol time.
ENLARGEMENT OF DIAL.
The two hands on large or minute dial show difference of 10 minutes 22
seconds between Greenwich and Bristol time.
(_By permission of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery._)]