Search Results for: antique clocks

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The Best Provider of Clocks

Here at Pendulum of Mayfair, we are a leading provider of antique clocks. With our main showroom based in Central London you can come and see us directly to view the fantastic antique clocks we have available.

Although we realise we’re not the only provider of antique clocks within the UK, from previous customer feedback, we’re more than confident that we’re one of the best. Here at three reasons why –

  • Experience – We have been selling antique clocks for a number of years. We know what it takes to deliver an impeccable service to all of our customers.
  • Quality – The antique clocks we sell are only the highest of quality. On our website you will be able to see images of our current stock to help give you an excellent idea of what we supply.
  • Price – Although cheapest doesn’t always mean best, especially when it comes to antique clocks, we ensure that our prices are extremely competitive to ensure excellent value for money for you.

 

We hope from the information above, you feel that we’re the best choice for you when you wish to purchase an antique clock.

To find out more, please call us on 0207 629 6606. We look forward to hearing from you and assisting you further.

For the best provider of antique clocks, come to Pendulum of Mayfair.

 

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European Clocks

I have been on a sort of busman’s holiday around the world looking at antique clocks. It is amazing how this country has literally pulled the world together or connected it through our history. I examined the close ties with Australia and antique clocks in my last blog. I have also written about the cloc kmakers that headed to USA for a new life. In both countries this meant the setting up production of a new industry in clockmaking. This will be one of my last blogs concerning clocks from around the world. I will look at antique clocks that were made for a particular market. Two countries spring to mind instantly.

Turkish and Portugese Market For Clocks

In the 18th century antique clocks manufactured in London were being sent to countries like Turkey and to another one of our close allies, Portugal. It is our connection with Portugal I will consider here. We have just restored a fantastic London mahogany grandfather clock. This is pictured above that has spent its entire life in Lisbon, I believe, until we purchased it at the end of last year. The superb example is pictured above.

Spencer and Perkins Lisbon Clock

You will see the clock is made by the great clockmakers Spencer and Perkins in London.Built around C1770. It has a strike/silent to the arch saying Repite and Surdo, clearly in Portuguese. This clock was exhibited in Lisbon in 1986 to commemorate the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. It was then 600 years since this historic battle. Right so what exactly is our connection with Portugal. The Anglo-Portugese Treaty of 1373 was signed between King Edward III of England and King Ferdinand and Queen Eleanor of Portugal. This is I believe the oldest treaty in the world. It was a treaty established between two great seafaring nations, a treaty of, “perpetual friendships, unions [and] alliances”.

Close Bonds With Portugal

This little heard of treaty has been reinforced throughout history, including in 1386 in this Battle of Aljubarrota. Here the English sent 100 longbowmen, veterans from the Hundred Years wars to honour this alliance in 1373. There were about 6,500 men on the Portuguese and English side against a force from the Crown of Castile, Kingdom of France and Arogonese allies and Italian allies of over 31,000 men. The Portuguese with the help of the English managed to win against overwhelming odds. In 1386, the closeness of the relations between Portugal and England resulted in a permanent military alliance, with the Treaty of Windsor, the eldest still active in existence. This treaty came into play again in 1643,1654,1660,1661,1703,1815,1899. It was also recognized in the Treaties of Arbitration in 1904 and 1914. This Treaty was also used during the Second World War and was also cited during the 1982 Falklands War.

Rise of Clockmaking

During the rise of the clockmaking in the UK in the 18th century under King George II and III we were at war with or on opposite sides with France many times. Supply of wine after French ports were blockaded became a problem. Our alliances with Portugal made British merchants look further afield. Port was invented as in order to stabilize the wines during their long journey at sea. Merchants added a bucket or two or brandy to the barrels before sending them off.  Britain and Portugal signed the Methuen Treaty providing for, among other things, bolts of cloth from England for pipes of wine from Portugal. This paved the way for the enormous expansion of port trade in the 18th and 19th-centuries.

Port Trade

King George III was rather partial it was believed to this drink, and he helped his allies from Portugal during many occasions. It was believed fine antiques and clocks and other items were sent after various disastrous earth quakes in Portugal. The 1755 Lisbon earthquake was one of the most deadly earthquakes in history.

Lisbon Earthquakes

The pictures above show one such clock that was manufactured in London. This was sent out to Lisbon, Portugal in the 18th century. It has spent, I believe,  all but the last few months overseas. It has a very unusual packing block behind the movement that looks original to the case. This appears to be the way the movement was bolted down for shipment in the 18th century. A really rare feature which you can see below. There is also an 18th century brass plate on the back of the movement that attaches to this block.

It is a fantastic antique clock and it can be viewed on our website, please contact me for any further information.

Daniel R Clements

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Japanese Pillar Clocks

 

In my various blogs to date we have studied clockmaking in the UK in great depth, this is with due reason. London was the centre of the clock making during the 17th/18th and 19th centuries. In my later blogs I have looked at clock making in France and Germany. Clock decoration carried out by the Chinese, on lacquer clocks. I wish to end this year with a quick look at antique clocks and timekeeping in Japan. I will focus on the humble Japanese Pillar Clock.

 

Japanese Time

Japanese clocks were somewhat different to European antique clocks in the 17th,18th and 19th centuries. The earliest clocks to come to Japan from missionaries and merchants had to be adapted to Japanese time. The Japanese clock makers had many challenges adapting these clocks. They also had the problem as a nation they were very isolationist after the mid 17th century. Their technology in this regard somewhat lagged behind the western clocks of the period.

So what is Japanese time I hear you ask? Surely all time is measured the same, well no not for the Japanese culture in these early periods. In fact it was not until 1873 that the Japanese government adopted the 24 hour system used in the West and the Gregorian calendar.

Adjustable Clock Divisions

Japanese time required 6 hours in the daytime from sunrise to sunset and 6 hours at night, from sunset to sunrise. As a result of the seasons these time periods were unequal and the divisions on Japanese clocks had to be adjustable. This was called unequal temporal hours. Daylight hours were longer in the summer and shorter in the winter, with the opposite at night. Clearly this produced problems and the European system of equal hours that did not vary with seasons was far simpler.

Rare Clocks Shitan Wood

The Japanese pillar clock pictured here is a rare example that is a striking example, most are timepiece. It is also weight driven. It has a verge escapement, beautifully turned pillars and a foliot escapement. As the clock winds out the indicator tells the time by the scales on the door. Typical clocks had six numbered hours from 9 to 4 which counted backwards from noon to midnight. The dials did not have the numbers 1 to 3 for religious reasons. Dawn and dusk were marked as the sixth hour in Japanese timekeeping. A list of the strange dials for the hours is given on Wikipedia, please take a look.

The name pillar clocks comes from the fact they used to hang from the pillars or posts of the Japanese houses. These clocks were generally made from a wood called Shitan. Clearly because of the fragile nature of the construction only a few have survived and they are highly sought after. The movements go for just 1 day on a wind.

Summary

I hope you all have a happy and most important of all healthy Christmas and New Year. Soon restarting my antique clock blog in the New Year. I hope you have enjoyed and hopefully learned something from them. Again have a lovely holiday and see you soon.

 

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Carriage Clocks

In my many antique clock blogs to date,  I have talked about the rise of clockmaking in England and London being the centre of clock manufacture in the 17th and 18th centuries. The tide starts to turn though through the 19th century. You will then see more makers from France and Germany exporting their products to the UK.

The Rise of Continental Clock Making

The French clock makers became very adapt at clock making during the start of the 19th century. I will look at the introduction of the French carriage clocks here and its impact on the market. The carriage clock above further details are found by on small carriage clock.

Abraham-Louis Breguet

It was Abraham Louis Breguet (1747-1823) that was in my opinion the finest of all the continental horologists. Breguet is classified as the inventor of the French carriage clock. He gave one of these clocks to Emperor Napoleon in 1812. A.L.Breguet although born in Switzerland spent almost his entire productive life in Paris. His career began with a series of new inventions in the field of watches.

The era of Balance Wheel Clocks

He invented the self winding perpetual watch for example. During the French Revolution Breguet took refuge back in Switzerland but he soon returned to Paris with further new groundbreaking horological ideas. He came up with the Breguet spring balance which was fundamental to the invention of the carriage clock. After his death in 1823 many would mention this great inventor and horologist as one of the greatest pioneers of  scientific achievements in the field of time-keeping in France.

Carriage clocks are usually made of brass or gilt brass have numerous glass windows to see the mechanism. These clocks have a platform escapement visible through the top glass window. These clocks use a balance and balance spring to control the timekeeping. This balance effectively made the clock very transportable, the way other clocks were not at the time.

Easy transportation – clocks on the move

Clocks were thus made smaller by not having to have a pendulum. These clocks were spring driven and could have a repeat function to show the last hour/half hour. These clocks were exported in vast numbers from C 1860 to C 1920. I suppose production was at his height around C 1860/80 in France. Many of these carriage clocks were made in France and retailed in the UK. The makers normally had some mark or feature engraved on the back of the movement. This you can normally decipher in a good French carriage clock makers book.

Conclusion

These French carriage clock are generally of ‘8-day’ duration. They are very good Christmas presents. Prices go from £300 or £400 upwards for timepiece examples. Repeating carriage clocks tend to go from around £1,500 upwards. Some porcelain panel carriage clocks and champleve enamel carriage clocks were also made. These are rarer and tend to be alot more money. It is important when purchasing these French carriage clocks to check the clock has an original escapement. Many have been changed over the years.

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Clocks for sale

I have now written many blogs about important aspects of antique clocks. Many of these blogs relate to how to find more information about a particular antique clock Setting up antique clocks, the history of antique clocks or timekeeping antique clocks Lessons in finding a genuine antique clock or even advice if you are considering a career in restoring antique clocks. I hope I have showed you there are many pitfalls in choosing antique clocks for sale. You can learn more from visiting our website www.pendulumofmayfair.co.uk.

Where to Find Clocks?

The truth is there are literally thousands of places you can source your antique clock for your home. I am sure you have seen clocks in many places like dusty old curiosity shops. Local, regional and famous auction houses, ebay, and maybe even the odd car boot sale. I want to stress the importance of buying from someone who is a long established expert in the field. They should give you a written guarantee than the item you are interested in, is a genuine antique. There is nothing worse many years later someone knowledgable coming around to dinner telling what you thought was your prize and joy has been butchered.

Reputable Clock Dealer

It will be more expensive buying from a long established reputable dealer offering a money back guarantee. It is worth it in the end though. I have also noticed that with the auction houses some of the prices realized are actually even higher than equivalent for restored examples in dealers shops. People seem to enjoy buying at auction. Remember this is not a place for anyone other than trained experts. Read the conditions in the backs of many auction house catalogues.

Check conditions of Sale in Auctions

Auctions are basically buyer beware. Some auction houses also now charge as much as 30% plus VAT commission on the buying price. The price you bid is not the price you pay and it is easy to get carried away bidding in an auction house.  Yes I may have considerable bias, as I believe you should always buy from a specialist dealer like ourselves. That is if you want a clock or lovely piece of furniture that comes with a guarantee.  I also would recommend buying a genuine picture though from an established picture dealer not an auction house. You are then covered by a written guarantee and are paying for the dealers knowledge and experience. Also when to comes to these items and especially clocks, we at Pendulum of Mayfair Ltd have our own sympathetic restoration facility. Items purchased at auction or elsewhere will normally need lots of money spending on restoration after purchase. Clocks need to work properly, you will not get any guarantees that they will do so from auctions.

Conclusion

To sum up therefore there are lots of antique clocks out there that seem a good deal. On closer inspection this may not always be the case. A changed movement, a new base, there are many factors which reduce the value of an antique clock. In looking for places with antique clocks for sale , my recommendation is to buy from only long established dealers. They will given you a written money back guarantee that the item is genuine.  I do not believe we will be beaten on price at Pendulum of Mayfair Ltd, like for like. We offer sympathetically restored antique clocks and furniture at affordable prices in London and Cheshire.

World Wide Exports

We sell to all four corners of the globe. A specialist antique shipper ships all our items to your front door. We also have comprehensive setting up instructions for all our antique clocks. The world wide web has made it possible buying from anywhere in the world an easy task. Although I always recommend to buy your antique clock in person. You can then touch it, smell it and speak directly to the person selling. Clearly this is not always possible in today’s manic world. We will provide many high profile references on request, and we usually know someone that has purchased from us in your neighborhood. If visiting the shop is not possible, speak to us on the phone or by e.mail and realize what makes us tick ! Trusting the person you are buying from is essential when buying antiques of any sort.

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Lacquer- Chinese Decorated Clocks

East India Company

When talking about antique lacquer clocks and their cases we need to discuss the China trade and the formation of the East India Company.

People today see the trade with China as a route for cheap goods or services. They also probably believe this trade route is a relevantly new process. This is far from the truth though on both counts. We have traded with China and areas of the world like this for many centuries. The ability to trade came about with our nation making huge advancements in marine technology that I have discussed in previous blogs.

Role of our Great Navy in Trade

We were undoubtedly a great sea power. Merchants in the 16th and 17th and 18th centuries were amazed at the many treasures and skills the Chinese people possessed. It was not until 1672 that the famous East India Company secured a trading post in Taiwan. This was ten years or so later than their counterpart, the Dutch East India Company which was expelled from the country by the Chinese. At the start of 1700, the company’s base was changed from Taiwan to Canton. With its Royal Charter the company was granted a monopoly of trade in the East Indies until 1833.

As I have discussed in previous blogs about the Clockmakers Company. London and the UK was the centre of the world’s clock making in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Trade With China

The China trade expanded many different skill sets though, and cabinets from English clockmakers were sent out to China to be decorated. True lacquering originated from Asia and it is obtained by applying many coats of the sap of the lac tree with polishing between coats. The colour or surface dye is mixed with this lacquer. (Black, blue, red, green and many other colours) Then the lacquered cabinet is decorated with raised gold leaf decoration. These skills are thought to have been employed in Japan and China as early as the third century BC. Clearly its importation into Europe came at a much later time and was facilitated by the East India Company described above.

Lacquer Decoration

Furniture, boxes and antique clock cases were all decorated in this way. They were then transported back to homes in the UK. It is suggested that very few clock cases were sent out to the Far East for decorating. I do not agree with this. If you look closely at the records of the East India Company. Many clocks and pieces of furniture are clearly listed, with the lacquered description clearly evident. I am not saying some lacquer production does not start up in the UK. Any that does I believe to be not of the same quality as the clock cases decorated out in the Far East. Later 18th and 19th century clocks with have been lacquered sometimes show an inferior quality. These from UK decorators trying to copy the highly skilled Chinese in this regard.

UK versus Chinese Quality in Lacquer Work

No lacquer cabinets have a decorators mark so we will never know for sure which is which. The records of the East India Company do show a large importation of lacquered products throughout this period, this is for sure. We have a great history in this country in the UK but it is amazing what countries like China manufactured many centuries earlier. The East India Company imported fantastic Chinese porcelain and many other items into the UK during this time. These were not inferior cheap products at all. UK Porcelain Factories in places like Stoke set up off the back of this. We need to remember the great contribution of the Chinese nation. This development is carried out far earlier than in the UK. https://www.pendulumofmayfair.co.uk

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Clocks – UK / USA

It is Ryder Cup weekend again. Great sporting battles between Europe and America at golf come to a head. These are friendly sporting battles but lets not forget the close ties between our great nations.

 

 

Exporting clocks

In the 17th and 18th century clock manufacture was the UK’s greatest export. The Clockmaker’s Company was formed as one of the UK’s oldest learned professions by Royal Charter in 1631. This started two centuries of UK dominance in this field. It was just before this in 1620 that the famous Mayflower set sail for America.

The Mayflower Boston Journey

The Mayflower has a famous place in American history. It is a symbol of early European colonization of the future United States. This ship set off from Plymouth, England to arrive at the now Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is the same reason why Boston, Massachusetts is called so today. John Cotton, a Puritan,who served as a Minster of the church in Boston, Lincolnshire England fled persecution. He moved to Massachusetts in 1633 as a leader of the settlers already there and some of his own people. He was instrumental in founding and naming Boston, Massachusetts.

American Clockmaking

Clock makers from the UK arrived in America, William Davis for instance is one of the earliest clock makers in America. He arrived in 1683 from the UK. Many of the oldest clocks on US public buildings were made by UK clock makers. These had fled for mostly religious reasons. New England had thus developed and the English community was strong here as thousands emigrated to the emerging America.

Ban Importation of Clocks

During the 18th century many English clocks were still imported to the US. One of the first things the new independent government did in US was to ban the importation of clocks. It is still the case though that many of the earliest American clock makers were English. They still imported dials etc from the new painted dial works (set up in 1771) in Birmingham, England and movements from the UK.

Rise of American Clock making

The rise of the American clock making industry from about 1850 to 1920’s coincided with the decline of the same in the UK.  Generally as quality went down and mass production rose, the US factories now churned out clocks better than anywhere else. Many famous 19th century American companies were set up, many of them in Conneticut. The Ansonia Company was founded in 1851 and thrived until its decline in the 1920’s. There was the Gilbert Company in the second half of the 19th century The famous Seth Thomas Company and many many more. The Waterbury Clock Company is one I will finish with.

Waterbury Clock Company

This company started in 1857, eventually became the Time Corporation, that made Timex watches. As a collector, I am only really interested in the first 200 years of clockmaking. Items were then handmade and were alot higher quality. There are always exceptions though and we have a clock made by the Waterbury Clock Company. This I believe is a one off, made for Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin. Its movement is of good quality and shows little signs of wear. It is a really rare and interesting example. This is pictured below. I suppose it also shows the strong Irish / American links that existed during the 19th century.
 

Conclusion

Visit our shop in London, if you love 18th century antique grandfather clocks like me. We have a large selection of genuine fantastic examples all fully restored. These clocks will keep ticking for generations to come. If you consider the painstaking hours in the manufacture. They represent amazing value for money by todays standards. Remember London was the centre of clock making from 1631 to the start of the 19th century century, some outstanding pieces were produced. 80% of our clocks from our shop in London, Pendulum of Mayfair Ltd,  are still exported to America. Owning your piece of history is easier than you think. We use a specialist antique shipping company that ships antique clocks to you door. Please visit our website for more information www.pendulumofmayfair.co.uk

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Antique Barometers

 

 

Evangelista Torricelli

Evangelista Torricelli is widely credited with the invention of the first barometer. Torricelli studied the workings of the great Galileo. He worked in the field of vacuum theory. Torricelli noticed weather changes effected the height of the liquid in Galileo’s water vacuum apparatus. These weather changes were related to air pressure fluctuations. One problem Torricelli had was the water vacuum apparatus required a tube 35ft long at sea level.

An era of suspicious people

This meant on his home the apparatus he built was taller than his roof. People were very suspicious of strange experiments at the time and being accused of witchcraft was commonplace. He therefore needed to do something to keep his experiments more secretive. Discussion with Galileo before his untimely death in 1642 convinced Torricelli on the need to use a heavier material the water.

Use of Mercury

Mercury or Quicksilver as it was then called was used. Mercury is 14 times or thereabouts heavier than water. Torricelli found he only required a tube 32 inches long to keep his experiments going. It was therefore in 1643 the first working publicized barometer was invented. Torricelli died in 1647. Some of our barometers can be found by clicking here. https://www.pendulumofmayfair.co.uk/category/antiques-furnuture-clocks-rare-items .

Lots of Experiments on Pressure

Many people copied and perfected Torricelli’s experiments. Blaise Pascal and in September 1648 Florin Perier who was the brother-in-law to Pascal. At his request he took his barometer to the top of mountain. He lived here to see what effect it had on the height of the mercury. Pascals predictions were correct, the mercury was lower the higher one went.

Weather instruments for general sale

It was not until about 1670 that barometers were starting to be sold and used in private homes. Lower pressures are associated with poorer weather and vice versa. It was found on fine sunny days the mercury stood at above 30 inches. On dull rainy days it stood at below 29 inches.  It was decided anywhere in-between was changeable weather. A scale of 28 to 31 inches was decided upon and Fair. Changeable and Rain was engraved to the scale to correspond to the pressures. Later Stormy and Very Dry was added to the charts to correspond to 28 and 31 in Hg

Robert Boyle

Robert Boyle seems to be the first person to introduce the barometer to England. He was a writer and a student in Italy at the time of Torricelli’s experiments and studied the writings of Galileo. On his return to England he conducted various experiments of his own in this regard and came up with the famous Boyle’s Law deduction.

Daniel Clements

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Public clocks

Chester Eastgate Clock

In this piece I will be carrying on from researching antique clock makers. I suggested visiting the 17th/18th century church in the town your grandfather clock was built. Clock makers often repaired the local church clock. These public clocks used what we call Turret clock movements to operate a series of dials in the church tower.

Turret Clocks

Most churches generally had a clock in the tower. A turret clock is the technical name for any large exterior public clock. These clocks can be in churches, town halls, banks, stable blocks, pretty much anywhere. We have installed these in homes and shops as a centre piece.

Outside Clocks Mechanical or Electric

Modern day clocks like this may use electric motors to drive the hands. All antique turret clocks have a large mechanical movement, the frame is normally made of cast iron. The movement is driven by large weights and a large pendulum. Normally the escapement will beat 1 1/4 seconds or more, this is why you will not normally see seconds hands on these public clocks.  The public only ever normally see the clock dial, which again is normally a cast iron dial, with counter balanced clock hands. The hands will need to be counter balanced to stop them swinging down to the six o’clock position and stopping the clock. For more information e.mail mePendulumClocks@aol.com.

Timepiece or Striking Public Clocks

The clocks movements can be timepiece or they can normally strike the hour on a single bell. Maintenance is required every 20 years or so and oiling every year. They are built basically along the same lines as a grandfather clock movement but everything is on a larger scale. Information about turret clocks can be found in various places on the internet. The company Smiths of Derby are still in existence and they still make and repair turret clocks today.

Chester Eastgate Clock

The clock pictured on my blog is a famous clock from the town of Chester. Chester a lovely northern city, the clock is called the Eastgate Clock. The mechanism was manufactured by the famous clockmakers Joyce of Whitchurch. Chester’s Eastgate Clock has 4 dials. The time can be seen from Chesters famous Roman walls and from the streets from the other two sides. This clock is one of the most photographed in the world. I think we all know what the no.1 photographed clock is in the world. In my blog next week we will look at this clock, the one and only Big Ben.

 

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Antique Clock Descriptions

Antique Bracket Clock
Antique Mantel Clock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alot of people get confused why there are so many names to describe certain antique clocks. I noticed recently on Wikipedia for a search for Longcase clocks you will see they also get regularly called grandfather or tall-case clocks.

Grandfather, Longcase or Tallcase Clocks

Tall-case is a name commonly used for a grandfather clock in the USA. On the Wikipedia site it also mentions the terms grandmother and grand-daughter clocks. It informs us that the difference is as a result of the height. This is true to some extent as clearly grand-daughter clocks are smaller than their larger counterpart, the grandfather. It would be to simplistic to take this as the only reason for the name change though.

Apprentice Piece or Grand-daughter Clock

For instance if you had a small 18th century oak longcase clock under 6ft, you would not call this a grandmother clock. All 17th and 18th century clocks can only really be described as either a longcase , grandfather or as people from USA like to say tall-case clocks.

The date of manufacture and height is important

The date is also important when describing antique clocks. Grandmother and grand-daughter clocks were really smaller examples produced post C1880. We have some very small C1790 floor standing clocks. I would call these miniature longcase clocks or apprentice pieces. The wording can get blurred here to some extent. It would not be unheard of to call these 18th grand-daughter clocks but I think period grand-daughter clocks (18th century) need to be differentiated from the later counterparts. (19th and 20th century).

Bracket or Mantel Clocks

I would like to finish this blog about the differences between what I call bracket clocks and mantel clocks. Again the easy difference is an age thing. 17th / 18th and clocks up to about C1850 will be commonly called antique bracket clocks. Later clocks from about C1850 to modern day examples are called mantel clocks. All bracket clocks will have English quality fusee movements.

English, German or French Movements

The mantel clocks can have going barrel English, German movement or possibly French movements. From the term bracket clocks you will assume no doubt that the difference is the earlier clocks had a seperate wall bracket that they stood on. This is not the case as only some bracket clocks were produced with actual brackets. Most were put on the large Georgian fireplaces. From a simplistic point of view if the clock has a fusee movement it would normally be called a bracket clock. Most mantel clocks do not have fusee movements.

Fusee Movements

17th ,18th and early 19th  century fusee antique bracket clocks are highly sought after. When they were introduced they were a real technological achievement. They actually were more expensive than the equivalent grandfather, only the top 5% of gentry could afford such clocks.

Daniel R Clements