Bracket ClockMaker, Thomas Loomes, at Ye Mermaid in Lothbury. Date, 1700.Height, 1 ft. 3½ in. Width, 11½ in. Depth, 7¼ in.Bracket Clock.Maker, Thomas Johnson, Gray's Inn Passage.Date, about 1730.Height, 1 ft. 2 in. Width, 7 in. Depth, 5 in.
Bracket ClockMaker, Thomas Loomes, at Ye Mermaid in Lothbury. Date, 1700.Height, 1 ft. 3½ in. Width, 11½ in. Depth, 7¼ in.
Maker, Thomas Loomes, at Ye Mermaid in Lothbury. Date, 1700.Height, 1 ft. 3½ in. Width, 11½ in. Depth, 7¼ in.
Bracket Clock.Maker, Thomas Johnson, Gray's Inn Passage.Date, about 1730.Height, 1 ft. 2 in. Width, 7 in. Depth, 5 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 canequally 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.
BRACKET CLOCKS. MID-EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Bracket ClockMaker, John Page (Ipswich). Date, 1740.Height, 24 in, Width, 12¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.Bracket Clock.Maker, Godfrey Poy (London). Date, 1745.Height, 26 in. Width, 11 in. Depth, 6¾.
Bracket ClockMaker, John Page (Ipswich). Date, 1740.Height, 24 in, Width, 12¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.
Maker, John Page (Ipswich). Date, 1740.Height, 24 in, Width, 12¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.
Bracket Clock.Maker, Godfrey Poy (London). Date, 1745.Height, 26 in. Width, 11 in. Depth, 6¾.
Maker, Godfrey Poy (London). Date, 1745.Height, 26 in. Width, 11 in. Depth, 6¾.
(By courtesy of Percy Webster, Esq.)
BRACKET CLOCKS. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY (ABOUT 1760).
Bracket ClockMaker, Johnson (London).Height, 1 ft. 5 in. Width, 9¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.Bracket Clock.Maker, Thomas Hill (Fleet Street, London).Height, 1 ft. 9 in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 7 in.
Bracket ClockMaker, Johnson (London).Height, 1 ft. 5 in. Width, 9¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.
Maker, Johnson (London).Height, 1 ft. 5 in. Width, 9¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.
Bracket Clock.Maker, Thomas Hill (Fleet Street, London).Height, 1 ft. 9 in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 7 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 hasthe 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 15½ inches high and 11½ 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 acarriage 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 12¼ 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-spinnersand 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."
American Clock.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.)
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.)
BRACKET CLOCKS. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY (ABOUT 1760).
Staffordshire Copper Lustre Ware Vase.Maker, Johnson (London).Height, 1 ft. 5 in. Width, 9¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.Staffordshire Copper Lustre Ware Vase.Maker, Thomas Hill (Fleet Street, London).Height, 1 ft. 9 in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 7 in.
Staffordshire Copper Lustre Ware Vase.Maker, Johnson (London).Height, 1 ft. 5 in. Width, 9¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.
Maker, Johnson (London).Height, 1 ft. 5 in. Width, 9¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.
Staffordshire Copper Lustre Ware Vase.Maker, Thomas Hill (Fleet Street, London).Height, 1 ft. 9 in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 7 in.
Maker, Thomas Hill (Fleet Street, London).Height, 1 ft. 9 in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 7 in.
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 ofhis 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 Frenchfinesse, a cottage echo of the vase-clocks of Sèvres in theapartments at Versailles. The cottager's desire to have a clock was satisfied by the Staffordshire potter.
BRACKET CLOCKS. LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Bracket ClockMaker, Alexander Cumming (London).Date, 1770.Height, 1 ft. 2 in. Width, 8¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.Bracket Clock.No maker's name. Date, about 1800.Height, 1 ft. 3¾ in. Width, 10½ in. Depth, 6¼ in.
Bracket ClockMaker, Alexander Cumming (London).Date, 1770.Height, 1 ft. 2 in. Width, 8¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.
Maker, Alexander Cumming (London).Date, 1770.Height, 1 ft. 2 in. Width, 8¼ in. Depth, 5¼ in.
Bracket Clock.No maker's name. Date, about 1800.Height, 1 ft. 3¾ in. Width, 10½ in. Depth, 6¼ in.
No maker's name. Date, about 1800.Height, 1 ft. 3¾ in. Width, 10½ in. Depth, 6¼ in.
(By courtesy of Percy Webster, Esq.)
BRACKET CLOCKS. EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY. DATE, ABOUT 1805.
Bracket ClockMaker, Barraud (London).Height, 17 in. Width, 12 in. Depth, 6 in.Bracket Clock.Maker, Strowbridge (Dawlish).Height, 16 in. Width, 10 in. Depth, 6½ in.
Bracket ClockMaker, Barraud (London).Height, 17 in. Width, 12 in. Depth, 6 in.
Maker, Barraud (London).Height, 17 in. Width, 12 in. Depth, 6 in.
Bracket Clock.Maker, Strowbridge (Dawlish).Height, 16 in. Width, 10 in. Depth, 6½ in.
Maker, Strowbridge (Dawlish).Height, 16 in. Width, 10 in. Depth, 6½ 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.199are two clocks; one, in date 1770, by Alexander Cumming, is only 14 inches in height; the other, 1800, having no maker's name, is 15¾ 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 toparting 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.
BRACKET CLOCKS.
Bracket ClockMaker, Biddell (London). Date, 1800. Enamel dial.Height, 1 ft. 8 in. Width, 10 in. Depth, 5½ in.Bracket Clock.No name of maker. Date, 1810-15.Height, 1 ft. 7¾ in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 5½ in.
Bracket ClockMaker, Biddell (London). Date, 1800. Enamel dial.Height, 1 ft. 8 in. Width, 10 in. Depth, 5½ in.
Maker, Biddell (London). Date, 1800. Enamel dial.Height, 1 ft. 8 in. Width, 10 in. Depth, 5½ in.
Bracket Clock.No name of maker. Date, 1810-15.Height, 1 ft. 7¾ in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 5½ in.
No name of maker. Date, 1810-15.Height, 1 ft. 7¾ in. Width, 1 ft. Depth, 5½ in.
Ebony Table Clock.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.)
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.)
PROVINCIAL CLOCKS
Their character—Names of clockmakers found on clocks in the provinces—The North of England: Newcastle-upon- Tyne—Yorkshire clockmakers: Halifax and the district—Liverpool and the district—The Midlands—The Home Counties—The West Country—Miscellaneous makers.
A greatdeal of attention has been paid by collectors to clocks by well-known London makers and too little examination has been given to fine examples by those of the provinces. In the present chapter an attempt is made to fill a hiatus in this respect, and by the kindness of those interested in the various localities certain data are presented which may stimulate the student to continue his researches on the lines here indicated.
The metropolis attracted noteworthy makers, but they had their origin and often their early training in the provinces.
The following are among the great London clockmakers, but they were not Londoners. They come from all parts of the country. Joseph Knibb (about1670) was an Oxfordshire man. The famous Thomas Tompion, born in 1638, came from Bedfordshire. George Graham (1673-1751) tramped to London from Cumberland. Thomas Earnshaw, who perfected the marine chronometer, his additions being still in use, was born at Ashton-under-Lyne in 1750 and served his apprenticeship there. Henry Jones, who was the pupil of Edward East, was the son of a vicar at Southampton. Charles II had a clock made by him. Thomas Mudge was the son of a schoolmaster and was born at Exeter in 1715. Another Exeter man was Jacob Lovelace, who took over thirty years to construct a remarkable clock. The celebrated John Harrison was the son of a carpenter on an estate at Pontefract. It was he who competed for the Government gratuity offered for a nautical timekeeper, for which he finally received £10,000, after repeated tests in voyages to the West Indies by himself and his son. We think of his early struggles, when he travelled up to London after he was forty, only to find that he had to return to the provinces and continue his vocation as clock-mender in ordinary and inventor extraordinary. There is a long-case clock with wooden wheels and pinions by him in the Guildhall Museum, London.
The list is by no means complete. There was John Ellicott, who was born at Bodmin, and another Cornishman from the same town is John Arnold, who was apprenticed to his father, a watchmaker there. Arnold continued what Harrison had begun in the chronometer. We must not exclude the great Dr. Hooke, who was born at Freshwater, Isle ofWight, who invented the anchor escapement for clocks and contested the invention of the balance spring in watches with Huygens.
Names of Clockmakers found on Clocks in the Provinces.—It has been suggested that in some cases the name of a local maker does not necessarily determine, when found on the dial or elsewhere, that such clock has been made by the person whose name it bears. It has also been advanced that the name of the owner was sometimes put on the dial. This last theory can be dismissed as being of so infrequent use as to be practically negligible in recording lists of makers. The other conjecture may possibly have sufficient truth in it to disconcert collectors of examples of local crafts. Of course, it is a statement that cannot be proved, nor can it be disproved. Presumably a clockmaker in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when clockmaking was something more than selling or mending clocks that other people made, did not deliberately set up business and, in a small town where secrecy was impossible, make a practice of putting his name on work he did not execute. That he did not make all the parts himself is admitted. Had he done so, he would have had to be a chain-maker or a catgut-maker, a pulley-maker, a chaser of metal for his dials, a cabinet-maker for his cases, and so on down to his most minute screws. One might as well take similar objection to Sir Joshua Reynolds or Gainsborough that they did not extract their pigments from the natural vegetables or minerals, that they neglectedto become proficient in manipulating hogs' bristles or camel-hair into brushes, or that they could not and did not make their own canvases or carve their own frames.
It did happen that an old clock by one maker was sent to another for repair, and he made such extensive repairs to the movement that he felt himself justified in putting his own name to the clock in its new state. The owner would have had something to say to this interchange of names had there not been some justification for it. This practice, however, is not confined to the provinces, and we cannot charge the provincial maker with being wholly unscrupulous.
Some purists in collecting have objected to the presence of a country maker's name stencilled on the dial, as being evidence it was not his handiwork. But this is not in itself a crime. It is far more likely that such a clock is of local make, and that being in a remote part it was not easy to get anyone to paint his name on the dial or engrave it. Had he had it made to order in a town surely his name would have been painted for him. In a measure, crudities of this nature and peculiarities not found in clocks from the great centres are hallmarks of genuineness.
At the time of the passing of the Act in 1797 relating to the taxation of clocks and watches, the following places sent representatives to London to protest against this tax:—
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Liverpool, Leicester, Derby, Bristol, Prescot, Coventry, and Edinburgh. Ofthese, Prescot (a few miles from Liverpool) and Coventry represented the watch industry. We may therefore fairly conclude that the other places represent the most noteworthy centres of clockmaking at that period.
The North of England: Newcastle-upon-Tyne.—In regard to provincial makers, one wonders what 'prentice hands have gone to the making of the long cases. Did Thomas Chippendale, when he was working at his father's bench at Worcester, execute any of his early joinery and carving to embellish now forgotten clocks? Who can say? At Newcastle-upon-Tyne we are on surer foundation, for it is on record that Thomas Bewick, the wood-engraver, was apprenticed to Ralph Beilby, an engraver at Newcastle, on 1st October 1767 for seven years. His master's business lay in engraving crests and initials on watch seals, teaspoons, sugar-tongs, and other pieces of plate, and the numerals and ornaments on clock dials, together with the maker's name. Here, then, was young Bewick's 'prentice work—the master of white line on the wood block. Later, Bewick confessed to a friend that when engraving these clock dials his hands grew as hard as a blacksmith's, and almost disgusted him with engraving. At any rate, there is the strong probability that such Newcastle dials engraved by Thomas Bewick are on clocks of the date from 1763 to 1774.
The following list of names of Newcastle and other clockmakers in the North of England is produced by the kindness of C. Leo Reid, Esq., ofNewcastle-upon-Tyne, and by the permission of the proprietors of theNewcastle Weekly Chronicle, compiled from notes appearing in that valuable repository of North-country antiquities.
The makers are of Newcastle, unless otherwise stated. The list is arranged alphabetically.
In regard to the remarks about Thomas Bewick and clock dials, there is every likelihood that his'prentice work in engraving them between 1763 and 1774 is to be found on clocks by S. Boverick, William Coventry, William Fenton, Gibson, John Hawthorn, John Wilson, and Christian K. Reid; the latter maker certainly knew Bewick. The dates given in the above list do not definitely represent that the maker's work was confined to that period exclusively. They are approximate dates.
Yorkshire Clockmakers: Halifax and the District.—We have already seen that John Harrison, the great self-taught genius, born in 1683, was a Yorkshireman. Of early makers there is a record of John Ogden, of Bowrigg, of the late seventeenth century, and Samuel Ogden, born at Sowerby in 1669. The name of Ogden is found on many Yorkshire clocks. Thomas Ogden came to Halifax; although the Ogdens seem to have been a Quaker family, one of his clocks is in the Unitarian Chapel vestry. The Ogden type of dial with the phases of the moon, although not original, being adapted from Dutch models, became noteworthy in the North of England, and such styles were termed "Halifax" clocks. Samuel Ogden, a descendant, migrated to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (see list, p.216), perpetuating the name a hundred years after.
In Halifax parish churchyard is a tombstone to the memory of R. Duckworth, clockmaker, 1677.
John Mason was a maker about 1760, and his father, Timothy Mason, was a clockmaker before him. At Rotherham some years ago there were some Mason clocks on exhibition, and there were eight generations of Masons as clockmakers, thelater branch having settled at Rotherham. Such is the record of many provincial makers.
Emanuel Hopperton, of Leeds, made clocks with marquetry cases. One bore the proud motto,Non mihi sed mundo.
Henry Brownhill, of Briggate, Leeds, watchmaker and clockmaker, was sufficiently prosperous to issue several tons of halfpenny copper tokens in 1793. By the courtesy of S. H. Hamer, Esq., of Halifax, an illustration of one of these tokens is given.
Halfpenny, 1793HALFPENNY, 1793.
HALFPENNY, 1793.
This was the year when the Reign of Terror began and when Marie Antoinette was executed. In England great commercial distress was felt. Banks issued notes in excess of their capital. Gold was scarce, and the Bank of England restricted its issues. A panic ensued and several banks failed. Pitt issued Exchequer Bills to the extent of five millions.
Other local clockmakers are Thomas Liston, of Luddenden, 1718-79, and his son Thomas, of Halifax, 1745-1815. It is reported that this latter Thomas Lister travelled by coach from Halifax toLondon to regulate and keep in order the clock at St. Paul's Cathedral. There is an orrery by him in the Glasgow University Museum.
Long-CaseClockLONG CASE CLOCK.Maker, Gilbert Chippindale (Halifax).Enlargement of Hood.ENLARGEMENT OF HOOD.Showing fine fretwork and maker's name in lunette.
Long-CaseClockLONG CASE CLOCK.Maker, Gilbert Chippindale (Halifax).
LONG CASE CLOCK.Maker, Gilbert Chippindale (Halifax).
Enlargement of Hood.ENLARGEMENT OF HOOD.Showing fine fretwork and maker's name in lunette.
ENLARGEMENT OF HOOD.Showing fine fretwork and maker's name in lunette.
(By courtesy of Surgeon-Major W. Savile Henderson.)
Long-Case Eight-Day Clock.LONG-CASE EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Maker, John Weatherilt (Liverpool).Date, 1780-85.(Reproduced by courtesy of George H. Hewitt, Esq., J.P.)
LONG-CASE EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Maker, John Weatherilt (Liverpool).Date, 1780-85.(Reproduced by courtesy of George H. Hewitt, Esq., J.P.)
William Lister is another member of the same family who made long-case clocks. In his dials a noticeable feature is the absence of the hour circle as being separate from the rest of the plate. The dial was made in one piece and attached to a back-plate of brass.
Pattison, another Yorkshire maker, made long-case clocks similar to those of William Lister.
John Hartley, of Halifax, about 1770, was the maker of a thirty-hour grandfather clock in oak case with brass square dial and moon and date lunettes. Titus Bancroft, of Sowerby Bridge, 1822, a church-clock maker, also made grandfather clocks.
John Hallifax, of Barnsley, who died in 1750, made a fine long-case clock now at Wentworth House.
Gilbert Chippindale, of Halifax, 1781, is another maker of fine clocks. A fine example of his work is illustrated (p.219).
R. Henderson, of Scarborough, early eighteenth century, is another Yorkshire maker. Richard Midgley, 1720-40, of Halifax, made a number of clocks still treasured locally. Samuel Pearson is known about 1790, and John Stancliffe, of Bark-island, is another local maker.
Collectors have too frequently associated Yorkshire clocks with the later periods, with ponderous cases of gigantic size, but, as is shown, the Yorkshire makers are worthy of considerable attention by connoisseurs as having a lineage extending back into theperiods when clockmaking was at its best, and when the case-maker was not such a preponderating factor as he seems to have been in the early nineteenth century days in the North.
Liverpool and the District.—In regard to Liverpool and the vicinity, at the Tercentenary Historical Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in 1907 a collection of clocks and watches was made to illustrate the art of the clockmaker in that part of the country. By the kindness of George H. Hewitt, Esq., J.P., who arranged these exhibits, we are enabled to supply the names of many of the Liverpool clockmakers.
Peter Litherland patented the rack lever escapement in 1793-4 which Robert Roskell, the Liverpool maker, introduced into his watches. At the above Exhibition was shown a pendulum watch by George Taylor, about 1700, and one by William Tarleton, 1797, with the Government stamp indicating that the tax of a guinea had been paid. This was in 1797, the first and only year when a tax on watches and clocks was levied. One remembers the fine portrait of Colonel Tarleton in uniform, with one foot on a cannon, after the portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, signed I. Johnson, on a Liverpool mug. He was the Member of Parliament for Liverpool from 1790 to 1812. This family gave the name to Tarleton Street, Liverpool.
That Liverpool and the district was renowned for its watches is shown by a silver watch made by Thomas Worsley, Liverpool, inscribed, "Presented to Robert Burns by his brother ploughmen of Air(sic) March 9, 1785." Among other makers at Liverpool whose names are found on watches are Fair-clough (about 1800), Edmonds (about 1770), Joseph Finney (about 1770), Robert Roskell (about 1800), M. J. Tobias & Co. (1820), Harrington (1790), Peter Hope (1795), J. Johnson (1796).
Long-Case Eight-Day ClockLONG-CASE EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Maker, Thurston Lassell (Toxteth Park, Liverpool).Date, about 1745.(Reproduced by courtesy of George H. Hewitt, Esq., J.P.)
LONG-CASE EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Maker, Thurston Lassell (Toxteth Park, Liverpool).Date, about 1745.(Reproduced by courtesy of George H. Hewitt, Esq., J.P.)
Long-Case Mahogany Eight-Day Clock.LONG-CASE MAHOGANY EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Maker, Henry Higginbotham (Macclesfield).The Gothic panel in door is a noticeable feature.(By courtesy of A. Bromley Sanders, Esq., Exeter.)
LONG-CASE MAHOGANY EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Maker, Henry Higginbotham (Macclesfield).The Gothic panel in door is a noticeable feature.(By courtesy of A. Bromley Sanders, Esq., Exeter.)
It is possible that some of these makers also made long-case and other clocks; we find the name of Roskell on a long-case clock and R. Roskell on another. Presumably this was the Robert Roskell who used the Litherland rack-lever watch escapement. Joseph Finney also made long-case clocks. Other makers' names found on Liverpool clocks are Burges, Aspinall (with the motto, "Time is valuable"), Jno. Weatherilt. This clock is illustrated (p.221). It indicates by the character of its marquetry in the panel of the door and in the base that it belongs to the second period of marquetry contemporary with the influence of Sheraton. In the lunette the phases of the moon are shown. The date of this is about 1780 to 1785. Another clock, illustrated on p.225, is by Thurston Lassell, Toxteth Park, Liverpool. This in date is about 1745. The phases of the moon are shown in the lunette. The case is of more slender proportions than its fellow. The hood exhibits a reticence which was lost in later examples, especially in provincial work made in Yorkshire, where the case became of unwieldy size and somewhat ungainly shape.
Other names of Liverpool makers found on long-case clocks are William Sutton, Harrison & Son,Jas. Canson, Thomas Saxon, JonTaylor (Ormskirk), W. Lassell, Toxteth Park, Liverpool, with motto, "Time shows the Way of Life's Decay," with brass face, lunar movement, and monthly dial with indicator. (This style of dial is a feature of a Shropshire clock illustrated p.249.) Brown, Liverpool, is found on a mahogany long-case clock and also on a small long-case clock. To those who are interested the portrait in oils of Peter Litherland, the inventor of the rack lever, who died in 1804, is in the possession of the Corporation of Liverpool.
Among other Lancashire makers the following are noteworthy: T. Lees (Bury), 1795-1800; Archibald Coats (Wigan), 1780; Barr (Bolton), 1790; James Barlow (Oldham), 1775; Benjamin Barlow (Ashton-under-Lyne), 1780; and Nathaniel Brown (Manchester), 1780-1785.
In Westmorland and Cumberland the names Burton, of Kendal, and Russell, of Carlisle, are often found on grandfather clocks of local manufacture of the late eighteenth century.
In regard to a particular style of case associated with Lancashire and with Cheshire, having the door decorated with panel in Gothic style, two examples are illustrated (p.227), one by Henry Higginbotham (Macclesfield), and the other by Heywood, Northwich, 1790 (p.231).
Long-Case Mahogany Eight-Day ClockLONG-CASE MAHOGANY EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Maker, Heywood (Northwich, Cheshire). 1790.The Gothic panel in door is a noticeable feature.(By courtesy of Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons.)
LONG-CASE MAHOGANY EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Maker, Heywood (Northwich, Cheshire). 1790.The Gothic panel in door is a noticeable feature.(By courtesy of Messrs. A. B. Daniell & Sons.)
Long-Case-Eight-Day ClockLONG-CASE EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.With dial showing days of month. Oak case veneered in mahogany.Maker, Thomas Wall (Birmingham). Date, about 1795.(In possession of author.)
LONG-CASE EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.With dial showing days of month. Oak case veneered in mahogany.Maker, Thomas Wall (Birmingham). Date, about 1795.(In possession of author.)
Clockmakers of the Midlands.—As typical of the fine work produced, the bracket clock by Sam Watson, of Coventry, 1687, illustrated (p.181), shows that the provincial maker was at that date in no way on a lower plane than his contemporary in London. Other makers are Wilson (Warwick), 1709; JohnWhitehurst (Derby), 1785—a fine long-case clock by this maker is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; W. Francis (Birmingham), and Thomas Wall (Birmingham), 1798. An example by this maker is illustrated (p.233), exhibiting a pastoral scene painted in the lunette of the dial. This clock—in the possession of the author—keeps excellent time although 120 years old, and has gone for ten years without stopping.
Of Nottingham makers, the following names of early craftsmen are found on watches: Isaac Alexander, about 1760 (a watch, gold inner case, white dial; outer case of shagreen, with portrait of Charles Stuart by J. June, 1745), and Thomas Hudson, about 1790 (silver, white dial; outer case of tortoiseshell, with silver mounts). The name of Hen. Page, Upper Broughton (Notts), is found on a brass clock, and John Kirk was a maker at Epperstone and Skegby before he came to London in 1677 and was admitted as a member of the Clockmakers' Company. Among the collection of watches at Nottingham Museum, apart from the two above-mentioned, are a good many by makers of a later date, mainly of the early nineteenth century: John Lingford, A. Shepperley, William Young—all of Nottingham, and Geo. Stacey, Worksop.
Among the other watches on exhibition are an early one by Robert Dent (Lincoln), No. 61, and a watch with gold case with chasedrepousséfigures and ornament by J. Windmills, the celebrated London maker, 1671-1700.
This short list of Midland makers is obviouslyincomplete, and it is to be hoped that some painstaking horologists will amplify it and do honour to the makers and to the counties concerned.
The Home Counties.—Thomas Tompion (1671-1713), the famous London maker, commenced at Bedford and ended at Bath. We have seen a brass lantern clock engraved "Thos. Tonkink de Bedforde." This might very well be one of his early clocks, and we know his great last triumph in the famous long-case clock in the Pump Room at Bath. But apart from this incidental connection of the "father of English watchmaking" with the provinces, there stands Joseph Knibb, of Oxon, who was admitted to the Clockmakers' Company of London in 1677. He worked in London for the Court of Charles II. But he was established in Oxfordshire, as is shown by the copper token he issued, with inscription "Joseph Knibb Clockmaker in Oxon," and on reverse the dial of a clock with initials I.K. in centre. We give an illustration of this token.
Joseph Knibb
A long-case eight-day clock finely decorated in marquetry, in date about 1690, is illustrated (p.237). This exhibits the work of Knibb as being equal, as his employment at the Court shows, to the leading London makers of his day. In the chapter on Marquetry, p.79, will be found a notice of thisclock in regard to its relation to other styles of marquetry, and its place in the sequence there described.
Long-Case Eight-Day Clock.LONG-CASE EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Decorated in marquetry.Maker, Joseph Knibb (Oxon). Date about 1690.
LONG-CASE EIGHT-DAY CLOCK.Decorated in marquetry.Maker, Joseph Knibb (Oxon). Date about 1690.
Georgian Spanish Mahogany Long-Case ClockGEORGIAN SPANISH MAHOGANY LONG-CASE CLOCK.Hood enriched with fretwork in Chinese style of Chippendale. Terminals of carved mahogany.Maker, Cockey (Warminster).(By courtesy of Messrs. D. Sherratt & Co., Chester.)
GEORGIAN SPANISH MAHOGANY LONG-CASE CLOCK.Hood enriched with fretwork in Chinese style of Chippendale. Terminals of carved mahogany.Maker, Cockey (Warminster).(By courtesy of Messrs. D. Sherratt & Co., Chester.)
A fine bracket clock by Joseph Knibb, in date about 1690, is illustrated (p.181). This is of the same period as the long-case clock, the year when William of Orange defeated James II at the battle of the Boyne, and James, the last of the Stuarts, fled into France. It is possible that the fortunes of Joseph Knibb were bound up with Whitehall. At the Revolution in 1689 our Court clockmaker no doubt retreated into Oxfordshire to continue his creations which we now know. A cloud of unpaid debts must have hung over him, for the Stuarts were bad paymasters.
The West Country.—In publishing lists of clockmakers collected by local antiquaries, a loyal service has been rendered to the West Country by theDevon and Cornwall Notes and Queries. The following list is based on the researches published in that journal by R. Pearse-Chope, Esq.,[4]and by H. Tapley-Soper, Esq.[5]