Early Clocks | Lee Borrett
Early English
Longcase Clocks
The English longcase clock emerged during one of the most important technological developments in seventeenth-century timekeeping: the introduction of the long pendulum working with the newly developed anchor escapement. By the late 1660s this revolutionary combination was allowing English clockmakers to produce domestic clocks of greatly improved accuracy, and the tall wooden case evolved to protect the long pendulum and descending weights.
The exceptionally early clocks illustrated here date from this formative period and already display the essential characteristics of the fully developed English longcase clock. The anonymous key-wound 30-hour example of c.1668–1670 and the Charles Rogers clock of c.1672 therefore provide a fascinating glimpse into the opening years of a form of domestic clock that would become one of the most distinctive achievements of English clockmaking. Each can be explored through its own illustrated article, with further early longcase clocks and related research to be added as this section continues to develop.
Key-Wound 30-hour
Long Pendulum Clock
c.1668–1670
This exceptionally early English 30-hour long-pendulum clock, dating from c.1668–1670, survives from one of the most important periods of technological change in English clockmaking. Its wonderfully original movement incorporates the newly developed anchor escapement and long pendulum, while the beautifully engraved 9¾-inch brass dial retains its early iron hands, tulip decoration and distinctive trident half-hour markers. Made only a few years after the introduction of this revolutionary form of timekeeping, the clock provides a remarkable glimpse into the very beginnings of the English longcase clock. Please Click here to read my article. Private collection, photographed by Lee Borrett.
Charles Rogers
at Guild Hall, c1672
The beautifully proportioned early tulip-dial longcase clock illustrated here is a rare London 30-hour example, made by Charles Rogers at Guild Hall around 1672. Its finely engraved square brass dial, early winged-cherub spandrels and distinctive matchstick half-hour markers place it amongst the fascinating first generation of English longcase clocks produced following the introduction of the long pendulum and anchor escapement. With its wonderfully interesting historical background and surviving evidence of Rogers’s life and working career in Restoration London, this remarkable clock provides a fascinating glimpse into the formative years of English longcase clockmaking. Please Click here to read my article. Private collection, photographed by Lee Borrett.