THE BRACKET CLOCK
The term "bracket clock" a misnomer--The great series of English
table or mantel clocks--The evolution of styles--Their competition
with French elaboration.
Long-case clocks came into being when the long or "royal" pendulum
required protection by having a wooden case. It was possible to have
a short pendulum, and clocks intended for table use had a short
pendulum. The long pendulum swings exactly in a second, and for it to
do this it must be of a certain length, determined by physical laws
followed according to mechanical formulæ by the scientific clockmaker,
too complex to be given here in detail. It may be interesting to
record that the length of a seconds pendulum--that is, one requiring
one second to move from extreme to extreme--is 39.1398 inches in
the latitude of Greenwich and is of different lengths in differing
latitudes.
=The Term "Bracket Clock" a Misnomer.=--In the old form of clock--the
brass lantern type, weight-driven--it is obvious that when the weights
and chains were suspended below the case the clock could not stand on
a table. Such clocks had to hang on a wall, as so many old engravings
show, or they were placed on a bracket against a wall, with the
weights hanging beneath. With the advent of the pendulum new theories
were in the air. At its first use as a short pendulum it was placed
in front of the dial. When the seconds pendulum was recognized as a
scientific regulator, the length precluded clocks in which it was
employed being used as table clocks. It was a distinct departure from
miniature timepieces as decorative domestic ornaments. Scientific it
undoubtedly was, and as such it commenced a new development in the
direction of astronomical clocks and scientific regulators of time. The
table clock had to pursue another course. It belongs to another school
of mechanism. The weight-driven clock strove to arrive at exactitude
and scientific accuracy. The other clock, like the watch, attempted
economy of space in conjunction with the maximum of exactitude such
economy would allow. It essayed to fulfil certain conditions. It was
easily portable, it could stand on a table, or more often on the
mantelpiece, a place it can almost claim as its own in the English home
by tradition. The watch with similar aims taxed the art of the maker
to enable it to be easily carried on the person. These two classes of
timepiece, the portable clock and more readily portable watch, were
spring-driven. The development of this mechanical principle, running
parallel with the evolution of the weight-driven clock, arrived at
great scientific accuracy, as exemplified by the nautical chronometer
and by the modern machine-made watch, whose timekeeping qualities are
remarkable. In fact, it may be said that the table or portable clock
and the watch together have dethroned the weight-driven clock as a
domestic clock.
[Illustration: BRACKET CLOCKS. LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Maker, Sam Watson (Coventry). Date, 1687.
Height, 12 in. Width, 9-1/4 in. Depth, 6-3/4 in.
Maker, Joseph Knibb (Oxon). Date, 1690.
Height, 12 in. Width, 8 in. Depth, 5 in.
(_By courtesy of Percy Webster, Esq._)]
[Illustration: BRACKET CLOCKS. EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Maker, Thomas Loomes, at Ye Mermaid in Lothbury.
Date, 1700.
Height, 1 ft. 3-1/2 in. Width, 11-1/2 in. Depth, 7-1/4 in.
Maker, Thomas Johnson, Gray's Inn Passage.
Date, about 1730.
Height, 1 ft. 2 in. Width, 7 in. Depth, 5 in.]
=The Great Series of English Table or Mantel Clocks.=--To the beginner
the appearance of an old table clock has not the same enticement as
a brass lantern clock with its obvious claim to pre-modern form.
It may even be said that the tyro clings reverently to his worship
of the "grandfather" clock as something sacred. With their steady,
uninterrupted progress from the middle seventeenth century for two
hundred years, it is remarkable how conservative these table clocks
have been to a comparatively fixed form. They stand in solidarity of
workmanship and perfection of mechanical detail as exhibiting the
superlative character of English clockmaking. During that period, in
long procession, generation after generation, they have upheld the
dignity of the science of horology as practised by English clockmakers,
whose craftsmanship and perfection of exact detail deservedly won a
reputation on the Continent and in America. An English clock of the
finest period holds few superiors and very few equals in the world for
reliability and exactitude. "_Bajo la palabra de un Inglés_" (On the
word of an Englishman) is a proverbial saying in the Spanish States
of South America, and such an honourable appellation can equally be
applied to the said Englishman's clock, upon which great clockmakers
have proudly inscribed their names as guarantee of its fidelity and
truth.
From Thomas Tompion in the days of Charles II to Benjamin Vulliamy
in the days of George IV the series has been unbroken. We find table
clocks by all the leading makers of long-case clocks, so that whatever
competition lay between the principles of the one and the principles
of the other was confined to the workshop of the clockmaker who set
himself to master the intricacies of two styles. It was a friendly
rivalry which is found to exist in other fields of human action.
Disraeli the politician wrote novels; Macaulay the historian published
verse; Seymour Haden laid down his lancet as a doctor to take up the
etching-needle to become one of the greatest modern etchers.
=The Evolution of Styles.=--In the examples illustrated, the slow
progression of types slightly differing from each other is readily
seen. The late seventeenth century exhibits types of reticent form,
with ebonized case, and having a brass basket-top decoration surmounted
by a handle showing its use as a portable clock. This handle is
retained in the carriage clock of to-day--a clock which finds a
prototype in the carriage clock of Marie Antoinette. In height these
clocks were about 12 inches and in width about 9 inches. At this
period brass oblong ornaments were affixed to the case, a detail which
disappeared with the next later type.
[Illustration: BRACKET CLOCKS. MID-EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Maker, John Page (Ipswich). Date, 1740.
Height, 24 in, Width, 12-1/4 in. Depth, 5-1/4 in.
Maker, Godfrey Poy (London). Date, 1745.
Height, 26 in. Width, 11 in. Depth, 6-3/4.
(_By courtesy of Percy Webster, Esq._)]
[Illustration: BRACKET CLOCKS. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY (ABOUT 1760).
Maker, Johnson (London).
Height, 1 ft. 5 in. Width, 9-1/4 in. Depth, 5-1/4 in.
Maker, Thomas Hill (Fleet Street, London).
Height, 1 ft. 9 in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 7 in.]
The clock on the left (illustrated p. 181) is by Sam Watson, of
Coventry, and is dated 1687. It has the basket top, reminiscent in
decorative treatment of the metal fret found in lantern brass clocks
of contemporary date. It will be observed that these clocks have two
hands. The spandrels of this and the adjacent clock have the single
cherub's-head brass ornament. The latter clock, on the right, is by
Joseph Knibb, of Oxford, and is in date 1690. The basket decoration is
absent and the top is of simpler form. These two examples indicate that
fine work was done in the provinces. By the end of the reign of William
III the table clock had grown taller. The example illustrated (p. 183),
by Thomas Loomes, is 15-1/2 inches high and 11-1/2 inches wide. It
will be noticed that the basket top was still being made, and from now
onwards the four turned brass terminals at the top became a feature and
lasted for a century. By the first quarter of the eighteenth century
a lunette had been added, as shown in the clock on the same page by
Thomas Johnson, in date 1730. From this date feet were almost always
employed. Similar feet embellished the long clock-case from a slightly
later period throughout the century, and are still in evidence in
examples made as late as the first half of the nineteenth century. In
the 1730 clock by Thomas Johnson, the only brass ornament on the case
is the escutcheon to the lock, a feature which, as time went on, lost
its prominence and became more reticent.
In the reign of George II the clock again grew in stature. Its
portability was evidently not a necessity. It cannot be now said to
resemble a carriage clock. Chamber clocks became definite objects of
decorative utility as part of the domestic fitments of a room. The
architectural ornament becomes pronounced, and there is a massive
grandeur about the cases which suited the early Georgian mansions and
Hogarthian furniture of the period. These eight-day striking and alarum
clocks had become a feature of the English home. The fine provincial
example by John Page, of Ipswich, is 24 inches high and 12-1/4 inches
wide. In addition to the four terminals there is a fifth at the apex on
a column with supporting metal ornament. The adjacent clock by Godfrey
Poy, in date 1745, has at the apex a small figure of Ajax. In both
these examples there are rings at the side as ornaments, or possibly
for use to lift the clock in lieu of the older style of the handle at
the top (p. 187).
In the reign of George III (1760-1820) the table clock shows greater
variety. It was a restless time, filled with wars and political
struggles--a reign notable for the American Declaration of Independence
on 4th July 1776, for the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789,
for the "darkest hour in English history," the planned invasion of
England by French and Spanish fleets, and contemplated invasion of
Ireland by the Dutch fleet. In this reign, too, there came what may be
termed the industrial revolution due to the introduction of machinery
and steam-power. The growing wealth of the middle classes demanded
more luxurious furniture. Merchants and manufacturers, shipowners and
traders with India and the East, Lancashire cotton-spinners and
mill-owners founded a new plutocracy. Bristol and Liverpool traders
in "blackbirds," as the iniquitous slave trade was impiously termed,
amassed fortunes. Although Pitt advocated the emancipation of slaves,
under his rule "the English slave trade more than doubled."
[Illustration: AMERICAN CLOCK.
With case of fine design in form of lyre, richly gilded and surmounted
by eagle.
Makers, Savin & Dyer (Boston). 1780-1800.
(_By courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York._)]
[Illustration: STAFFORDSHIRE COPPER LUSTRE WARE VASE.
With decoration in Chinese style, blue and white, and painted clock
dial with no works. Early nineteenth century. The cottager's desire to
possess a mantel clock satisfied.
(_In collection of author._)]
Two George III clocks, in date 1760, by Johnson and by Thomas Hill, are
illustrated (p. 189). One shows the recurrence of an old form with the
handle at the top of the case, having only as a new feature delicate
brackets--a female bust, suggesting in miniature the figure-head of
some Indiaman. It is a pleasant ornament one would like to have seen
more often adopted. The adjacent clock, by Thomas Hill, evidently
derives its design from France, and is a forerunner, in its departure
from the square case, of the style which Sheraton, in his adaptation
from the French, made at a later date.
=Competition with French Elaboration.=--During the latter decades of
the eighteenth and the opening years of the nineteenth centuries,
the influx of French fashions had a considerable influence on the
furniture designers of this country. What Chippendale had commenced,
Sheraton continued, each according to his point of view. So great was
the effect that there is actually an English Empire period entirely
dependent on the classic interpretation of the French school. To treat
of French clocks would occupy a space that is denied in this outline
study of English work. But that they are of paramount importance
cannot be denied. The French craftsman, as he always did, realized the
possibilities of his subject. His cases are elaborate and imaginative
in conception. His fertility of invention is remarkable. On the whole
it must be admitted that the case is the weakest part of the English
clock. The case-maker never quite realized his opportunities. He might
have done so much better. There is a stability and solid, almost
stolid, soberness that might have been lightened, so one thinks at
times. But on the other hand, when the Frenchman is bad in design, his
exuberance of ornament and headstrong imagination seem too lurid for a
sober clock which only records ordinary time.
This French influence was world-wide. By the courtesy of the
authorities of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, an American
clock is illustrated (p. 193), the makers being Savin and Dyer, of
Boston. This is in date 1780 to 1800. It is of fine proportions, and
the lyre ornament is kept in due reticence.
As exemplifying the far-reaching effect that French design had on this
country, we reproduce an interesting illustration of a cottager's
clock of the early nineteenth century (p. 195). It is really a vase of
earthenware made in Staffordshire. On one side is painted in blue a
Chinese scene, on the other is a clock-face in imitation of a French
dial. But the hands perpetually mark seventeen minutes past eight. In
copper lustre-ware this vase with its sham dial served the cottager
as something ornamental, although not useful. It is a replica in
homely English earthenware of French _finesse_, a cottage echo of
the vase-clocks of Sèvres in the apartments at Versailles. The
cottager's desire to have a clock was satisfied by the Staffordshire
potter.
[Illustration: BRACKET CLOCKS. LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Maker, Alexander Cumming (London).
Date, 1770.
Height, 1 ft. 2 in. Width, 8-1/4 in. Depth, 5-1/4 in.
No maker's name. Date, about 1800.
Height, 1 ft. 3-3/4 in. Width, 10-1/2 in. Depth, 6-1/4 in.
(_By courtesy of Percy Webster, Esq._)]
[Illustration: BRACKET CLOCKS. EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY. DATE, ABOUT
1805.
Maker, Barraud (London).
Height, 17 in. Width, 12 in. Depth, 6 in.
Maker, Strowbridge (Dawlish).
Height, 16 in. Width, 10 in. Depth, 6-1/2 in.]
Many clocks of the last quarter of the eighteenth century show the
lingering styles of the earlier decades. It is impossible to lay down
any definite rule in furniture, in silver, or in old clocks, that in
such a year a certain style ends. Approximately, one may determine
periods and by close application discover slight indications of new
styles beginning to take the town. Now and again one comes across
examples a great many years behind the time, especially in provincial
makers, where fashions in cases were not so frequently changed.
Illustrated on p. 199 are two clocks; one, in date 1770, by Alexander
Cumming, is only 14 inches in height; the other, 1800, having no
maker's name, is 15-3/4 inches high. A new and very pleasing form
is introduced. We see the dial in process of losing its lunette.
It makes its ascent on the case to take its place as in later
styles. This raising of the dial affected the top of the case, which
became of circular form. The transitional period is shown by the
ornament remaining in the right-hand clock in the lower spandrels.
The case-maker had not quite assimilated the changing form. It is
interesting to note that in both these clocks the handles of the early
portable clock are reintroduced.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the circular dial had
become established. An interesting transitional clock by Barraud (p.
201), in date 1805, shows that the case-maker was averse to parting
with the lunette. He accordingly places the dial in the centre of the
case and has a crescent-shaped ornament, with a design adapted by the
metal-worker from the Chinese potter. Of the same date is a provincial
clock by Strowbridge, of Dawlish. Here the maker has boldly adopted the
circular top, and the result is a case of pleasing proportions.
Restlessness of design characterized this period. The old square
dial was rarely if ever used. The arched-top case is another form,
as illustrated (p. 205), where the maker, Biddell, refrained from
following the line of the circular dial in his case. The adjacent
example, in date 1800 to 1815, shows the circular dial surmounting the
pediment of the case. After its vicissitudes it has at length triumphed
in becoming the dominant note in the design.
As illustrating the varied attempts to make the table clock an imposing
ornament and deal with its decoration in an elaborate manner, the fine
clock in ebony case inlaid with blue and white Wedgwood medallions is
a remarkable example (illustrated p. 207). An especially noteworthy
feature in this clock is the beaded ornamentation around the dial and
the medallions and the other portions of the case of cut steel.
The series of table clocks illustrated should indicate to the reader
the salient features of such clocks, which are sought after by
collectors and carefully prized by those who love the fine work of the
old English clockmakers.
[Illustration: BRACKET CLOCKS.
Maker, Biddell (London). Date, 1800. Enamel dial.
Height, 1 ft. 8 in. Width, 10 in. Depth, 5-1/2 in.
No name of maker. Date, 1810-15.
Height, 1 ft. 7-3/4 in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 5-1/2 in.]
[Illustration: EBONY TABLE CLOCK.
Inlaid with medallions of blue and white Wedgwood jasper ware. Enriched
with mounted ornament of cut steel.
(_By courtesy of City of Nottingham Museum and Art Gallery._)]