Antique clocks: types and how to identify them

Antique clocks are one of the most fascinating fields of collecting. They combine precision mechanics, cabinetmaking and metalwork and, in the finest examples, an artistic value comparable to that of sculpture. Knowing the main types, being able to read a dial and understanding the basics of the movement are the keys to buying with judgement.

Longcase clock (grandfather clock)

The longcase clock is the king of domestic horology. It appeared in England around 1660, shortly after Christiaan Huygens applied the pendulum to timekeeping. Its tall case, usually 180 to 250 cm high, houses the pendulum and the weights that drive the movement. The great English makers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries — Thomas Tompion, George Graham, Joseph Knibb — produced clocks that now fetch very high prices at auction.

In Spain longcase clocks were less common, but English and Dutch examples were imported and some local makers produced pieces of merit. Case styles change with the period: floral marquetry in the William and Mary period, chinoiserie lacquer under Queen Anne, mahogany with a broken pediment in the Georgian era.

Bracket clock

The bracket clock is a table clock driven by a spring rather than weights, so it can stand on a shelf, bracket or console. It emerged in England in the second half of the seventeenth century and reached its height in the eighteenth. The case, usually ebonised wood, mahogany or lacquer, is often topped by a brass carrying handle. The best examples have quarter striking on bells or gongs.

In France the table clock took more sculptural forms: the Louis XV pendules, with gilt-bronze cases and Rococo curves, and the Louis XVI ones in marble and bronze with Neoclassical forms, are emblematic pieces of the French decorative arts.

Mantel clock

The mantel clock differs from the bracket clock in its lower, wider design, conceived specifically for the chimneypiece. French Empire mantel clocks (c. 1800–1830), with gilt-bronze figures on black or green marble bases, are perhaps the most recognisable type. Their figurative themes — mythological, historical, allegorical — give many models their names: "pendule au char", "pendule à la Vestale" and so on.

Carriage clock

The carriage clock (pendulette de voyage in French) is a portable clock with a brass and glass case, usually 10 to 20 cm high, originally designed for travel. It appeared in France at the beginning of the nineteenth century; Abraham-Louis Breguet was one of its first makers. The best examples have engraved or enamelled cases, porcelain dials and movements with hour repeat and alarm. The most respected makers include Drocourt, Margaine and Jacot.

Wall clocks

The category of wall clocks is very broad. It ranges from sober wooden-cased pendulum clocks (the Vienna regulator type, made in Austria and Germany in the nineteenth century) to French gilt-bronze wall clocks (cartels), Black Forest cuckoo clocks and industrial station clocks. Eighteenth-century French cartel clocks, with their lavishly ornamented Rococo bronze cases, are pieces of great decorative value.

Dating a clock by its dial

The dial is one of the most informative elements for dating a clock:

• Brass dials with a silvered chapter ring: typical of English clocks from the late seventeenth century and through much of the eighteenth. A chapter ring engraved with the hours and silvered is applied to a brass plate, and the corners (spandrels) carry cast-brass mounts with cherubs, crowns or foliage.
• A single hand: clocks with an hour hand only are usually very early or of rural manufacture; the minute hand became standard in the last third of the seventeenth century.
• Enamel cartouche dials: in eighteenth-century French clocks each numeral is often on its own white enamel cartouche, applied to a gilt-bronze dial.
• Painted (white) dials: on English longcase clocks they appear around 1770 and by the end of the eighteenth century had displaced brass dials. The numerals, painted black on a white ground, are easier to read.
• Arch dials: dials with a semicircular arch at the top showing moon phases, the date or a calendar generally date from about 1720 onwards.
• Dials signed by the maker: many clockmakers signed their dials. The inscribed name allows direct identification.

The movement: what to look for

An antique clock is, above all, a machine. The condition and quality of its movement determine both its value and whether it works:

• Escapement: the earliest clocks use the verge escapement, progressively replaced by the anchor escapement from c. 1670 and by the deadbeat escapement, which George Graham perfected around 1715. The type of escapement helps date the piece.
• Plates: solid brass plates (the metal plates that support the wheel train) with turned pillars indicate hand manufacture before industrial production.
• Maker’s signature on the movement: many makers engraved their name on the backplate. It is a key clue to identification.
• Striking: hour striking on a single bell is the most basic. Quarter striking (ting-tang), repeating work and musical movements are more complex and more highly valued.
• General condition: a movement that works properly is worth much more than one that has stopped. That said, movements can be restored, and specialist clockmakers can bring apparently lifeless pieces back to life.

Key makers and brands

Besides the great names already mentioned (Tompion, Graham, Breguet), it is worth knowing Japy Frères (nineteenth-century French movements, ubiquitous in mantel clocks), Lenzkirch and Gustav Becker (German wall and table clocks), Ansonia and Seth Thomas (nineteenth-century American clocks) and, in Spain, the Charost brothers, French clockmakers settled in Madrid who from 1771 ran the Royal School of Clockmaking founded by Charles III, forerunner of the short-lived Royal Clock Factory (1788–1793).

Advice for buyers

• Check that the case and the movement started life together (married movements are common and reduce value).
• Ask the seller for a video of the clock running and, if it strikes, striking the hour.
• Examine the dial in good light: restored and repainted dials are common and can be spotted by differences in tone.
• Allow for the cost of restoring the movement, which can be significant if parts are missing or wear is severe.

Antique clocks bring a singular presence to any room, an audible rhythm and a tangible link with the history of timekeeping. At Antiga we bring together clocks of different periods and types offered by specialist dealers.