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Tables, Dressers and Sideboards
Medieval boards and trestles—survival of the term “board”—the Tudor refectory table—pull-out or draw-leaf tables—the cre• dence and origin of the gate-leg table—long period of the gate-leg—occasional joined tables-18th-century patterns with club legs—the composite “D” end table—tripod tea tables with dished and pie-crust tops—dating by shape of feet—early games tables-18thcentury card tables–Sheraton quartette or nest tables—variations of the Pembroke style—sofa tables and early 19th-century folding tables—early dressers—dressers developed from side tables—Welsh dressers—appearance of the sideboard—Victorian chiffoniers mason’s patent ironstone china .
In the communal life of medieval times the servant ate with his master and his place at the table was a kind of status symbol regency revival furniture . The master would sit at the head with his guests and family; next would come the retainers of importance such as the steward and the priest and finally the servants expensive antique plates . Accordingly the table was a very long one and as the great hall was also used for recreation and even for sleeping the table had to be constructed so that, in spite of its size, it could be easily dismantled and put to one side when not required furniture+scallop+wheat .
Tables of the Gothic period were referred to as boards and trestles and were made in a variety of styles edwardian c19th construction buildings . Sometimes the supports were as those illustrated in the Luttrell Psalter and later they took the form of pedestals french words for dinner stand . Until the middle of the 16th century the table top consisted of a massive board of oak or elm boards nailed together 1600 century scroll back chair . When laid over the trestles or pedestals the very weight preserved its stability table consoul antiques caried or gold “rococo” . Even to this day, landladies advertise “board and lodging” and we still speak of a board of directors, a board room and a board of governors flemish trestle table . It is interesting to note how this term, used to describe a council of men and women meeting around a table, is a survival in our language from a very distant past catherine the great of russia plates .
By 1550 the communal life of the hall had begun to disappear john bell, porcelain, value . Houses were being built with a greater number of rooms and master and man took their meals apart kent silversmiths bread basket . There was no longer a need for the long trestle table and so a smaller table with a permanent underframe and legs was taken into general use writing cabinet officers antique . It was probably a smaller adaptation of the joined tables used in the abbey refectories and nowadays the term, refectory table, is used to describe it, although it was a purely domestic piece of furniture types of bureaux .
The refectory table, which was in everyday use from about 1550 to 1660, was usually 8 to 12 feet in length art deco brass stool . It was stoutly constructed with four, six or eight legs with bottom rails between them, and the top permanently fixed 19th century chairs’ . The underframing was made of oak but the top was often of elmwood, because of the wide boards which could be obtained from that tree antique neoclassical .
During the reign of Elizabeth I a variant of the refectory table, known as a draw-leaf table, appeared on the scene earthenware mixing bowls antique with handles . It enabled a comparatively short table to be extended to nearly twice its length by pulling out under-leaves from both ends dinnerware silver tureen . It was a design introduced from Flanders and France and it enjoyed an equal popularity with the refectory table botanical whimsies are considered some of the finest examples of art nouveau glass . Both of these types were displaced by the gate-leg table after the Restoration but the draw-leaf table has been revived during the 20th century and many modern homes possess similar, but lighter versions of the Elizabethan prototype steel dining table germany .
During the second half of the 16th and the early years
of the 17th centuries, table legs were massively made and often took the form of heavy bulbous turnings english creamware marks . On Flemish tables these swollen shapes are often spherical, like a melon, but the English versions were considerably more elongated with rounded tops and bottoms dresden german antiques . It has been said that these bulbous legs were functional in that they were designed to prevent rats climbing on to the table tops ant cherry antique dictionary tables . I have it on good authority from a biologist friend that any self-respecting rat could easily leap on to a table without any climbing aids 19th century gothic bedside tables .
Between 1600 and 1630, a small but sturdily constructed kind of side table was developed antique chippendale “solid mahogany” dining table lions paw . It must be considered a somewhat rare example of early Stuart furniture as examples these days are seldom encountered ernst archibald furniture . The tabletop was of the folding type, that is, it consisted of two halves hinged together and normally kept closed cherry ladies writing desk by pennsylvania house . When required for use, the upper leaf would be opened outwards and this would be supported by a fifth leg, which could be swung out as in a gate-leg table serpentine pembroke table . Actually, this small table was the forerunner of the gate-leg pattern turkish style sideboards uk . It is sometimes referred to as a credence table, which was placed at the side of the altar in the churches and on which the wine vessels and plate were arranged for use in the Communion service antique “trestle table” kent .
The gate-leg table, as already mentioned in Chapter 1, became generally fashionable after the Restoration and, in one form or another it is the one type of table which has been in continuous service ever since art deco polished matte lost-wax castings o nude women in bronze by viennese artisans . Usually made with a gate on each side, some larger tables are to be found with quadruple gates “art deco dresser” and “marble top” . These were of the period when spiral twist legs were in vogue and were made of walnut or, occasionally, of oak louis xv antique french commode .
A small type of side table, with a drawer and bobbin turned or baluster legs, must have been made in large numbers towards the end of the 17th century as they are frequently to be found in sale-rooms and antique shops antique music cabinete with mirror at the top . The finer versions are sometimes veneered and have curved stretchers as illustrated in Chapter 2 federal style table with brass paws . A more common and probably country-made variety is the so-called tavern table with its top overhanging the ends to a more than usual degree trent potteries designs by george jones . The drawers of these tables are sometimes found with joiner’s slides on the sides porcelain wincanton .
After being generally adopted as a dining table during the Restoration period, the gate-leg table was given a variety of leg shapes over the next hundred years rene lalique nude woman art deco lamp . Baluster and spiral twists gave place to scrolled legs and eventually to a type of cabriole shape known as the club leg italian,furniture,maker,address . Except for use on extending card tables, the cabriole leg was not ideally suited to larger table design, but the club leg variation remained in vogue until the introduction of the Chippendale square leg and the tapered legs of the Adam and Hepplewhite eras deco style dressing table .
It was customary during the late Stuart and William and Mary periods for a host to seat his guests at several gate-leg dining tables if the company was a large one sheffield rote iron . By the mid-18th century, however, long mahogany dining tables at which all the company could be seated, began to appear in the more important households antique wood cutlery urns . For over fifty years, these long dining tables consisted of one or several gate-leg tables, with rectangular side-leaves, which were joined together and semi-circular “D” end tables were placed at each end to make up the piece ruhimann table . The wide mahogany boards, introduced during the previous decades, rendered the construction of the broad table-tops a relatively simple matter antiques antique oak sideboards dutch style .
When only a few people were at dinner, the “D” ends would be placed against the wall to serve as side tables and only the gate-leg would be in use new york antiques light art deco . These “D” end tables are quite often to be seen in antique shops, either singly or in pairs, and it is not always realised that they have originally been part of a long Georgian dining table antique mahogany handkerchief table . When placed together, a pair of these tables make a very attractive circular dining table, which would be admirably suited to a present-day flat or smaller modern house http://antcollectors.com . The long “D” end tables continued in use well into the 19th century but the tapered legs were in time replaced by centre pedestals, each supported on four long curved feet antique furniture spanish art nouveaux . These were usually reeded and had brass-capped ends with castors or brass leopard-paw ends wheat antique dresser .
Designed during the closing years of the 17th century, but not becoming generally popular until fifty years later, the small, snap-top, tripod table with a circular top is probably one of the commonest pieces of antique furniture to be found today walnut escutcheons . The hinged top of the simpler country-made examples is usually flat but a tea table with a dished or slightly hollow top is not uncommon reproduced oval shaped dinnig table with lion’s paw . The dished top was designed to prevent spilt tea or milk running over on to the carpet campaign furniture pottery furniture . A more elaborate type of the dished top was known as a pie crust early 19th century mahogany desks with lion feet . Here the edge was carved into a series of scallop shapes, but genuine pie-crust tops are rare and there are many reproductions about value of george iii english mahogany gateleg card table? . Some tripod tea tables have an open, box-like structure fitted underneath, known as a birdcage and into which the single, central pillar is made to fit dutch silver 17th century . With this device, the table top not only folds upwards but can also be rotated so that any dish upon the table may be brought within reach of the guests period antique mahonany dining table with lions paw pedestal legs .
It is possible to date a tripod table, to within twenty years, by the shape of the feet tilt-top birdcage tea table . As illustrated on p small antique pembroke table fold-over . 63, the feet of around 1750 to 1770 have a flatter curve with a wider spread, while those of 1770 to 1790 have a more pronounced hump at the knee antique imari porcelain . From 1790 to 1810 approximately, the curve of the feet was reversed and by the time of the Regency, slender, concave shaped feet had been introduced toilet habits during 1800th century . The early Victorian period saw the revival of the “S” shape, but this was usually rather thick in proportion and decorated with elaborate carving bassano maiolica .
Tables which were specially designed for playing games were rare during the 17th century but an interesting piece, known as a shuffleboard table, is sometimes to be found in the long galleries of our greater country houses 18th century antique american gateleg . The long galleries were built for leisure and relaxation so that during the winter months, while the gentlemen went hunting, the ladies could take more gentle exercise indoors dressing table with small tables . The shuffleboard table can best be compared with a shove-ha’penny board, save that large brass discs were used instead of coins and the table top was often very long rh vase austria . There is one at Astley Hall in Lancashire which has twenty stout legs and is 2712 feet long jennens and bettridge . It must have been prefabricated and then assembled in the long gallery as it is far too large ever to have been brought up the staircase in one piece botanical antique ceramics collectors .
During the reign of Queen Anne and the Georgian period, card games were extremely popular and folding top tables with cabriole legs were in general use during that time finmar alvar aalto stool . These tables were, mostly made of walnut and had small recesses near the edges of the top to hold the guineas or counters while small circular platforms were provided at each corner to hold candlesticks for the night’s play fashion in the 16th century netherlands .
Card tables and tea tables, particularly the folding, semi-circular variety with tapered legs, were made to an almost identical pattern, the only difference being that the games tables had inset baize tops while the tea tables were of polished wood how a goldsmith made a candlestick . The early 19th century saw the production of many small games tables with tops inlaid for chess and backgammon and with drawers beneath to hold the apparatus for the games end tables lions head table with brass eagle claws on legs .
To Sheraton must be given the credit of designing the nest of tables, the idea for which appeared in his Cabinet Directory in 1803 antique kidney shaped dressing table . The nest comprises four small, separate tables which all fit one under another splay leg sofa table . They were originally referred to as quartette tables and being very lightly con-structed and somewhat fragile, it is uncommon to find an original, complete set of four istoriato china . Luckily, I have such a set in my possession which I believe was made by Gillow of Lancaster old gateleg wooden drop leaf tables . It was salvaged from a second-hand furniture shop, the tables being scattered around among the jumble and the shopkeeper having no idea, apparently, that they formed a unique set kakiemon bow price .
Small Pembroke tables with side flaps supported by hinged brackets and said to have been designed originally at the request of the Duchess of Pembroke for occasional use, appeared about 1775 mahogany french dining chairs . They were common in late Georgian homes and in the early part of the 19th century a larger version was made to serve as a supper or breakfast table rectangular drop leaf table antique .
Sofa tables were designed to stand behind a sofa and to carry such things as reading and writing matter, trays of refreshments and candelabras rococo display cabinet . A few years ago, they were fairly common but are now in such great demand as bedroom dressing tables, that they have become a somewhat rare and expensive item pop up cigarette deco dispenser .
The Regency and early Victorian periods saw a vast number of tables with folding tops, made to stand on a central pedestal with three or four feet value of clawfoot cabriole legged dressing table? . In this type, the double top, when opened out, could be rotated so that it was supported by a rectangular underframing odiot tureen . These tables were used for games, writing, serving tea and a whole host of leisure activites french scrolling art nouveau style chairs .
A necessary adjunct to every dining room is a sideboard and to every kitchen or living room, a dresser trestle draw leaf table . The sideboard, as its name implies, was a small side table in those far off days when a dining table was referred to as a board gateleg drop leaf table 19th century . As the piece of furniture we know, it did not appear until the second half of the 18th century 18th century french fashion . The dresser, on the other hand, is of far more ancient lineage and in the painting of the More family by Holbein, referred to in Chapter there is shown in the background a high-backed, canopied Gothic dresser, or, as it was called in that period, a dressoir dutch rococo walnut cupboard . These dressers were really related to the cupboard or buffet and further reference will be made to them in the chapter on Cupboards vintage porcelain plate with brass pedestal .
Dressers with a high back were out of fashion during the early Stuart and Commonwealth times but there were two simpler types in general use aaron burr antique furniture . One was made in the form of a long, narrow side table with three or four deep drawers refectory tables trestle . It stood on four or six legs and had an under shelf, as wide as the dresser top, near the floor level antique epergne glass . This was, no doubt, used for the display of brass and copper ware what were wood tables with porcelain tops used for . The other type was a development of the chest and presented a more solid appearance, the entire front being filled with drawers and small cupboards demilune chiffonier . This second kind of dresser was not generally adopted until after the Restoration but both types were used then until the end of the 17th century drop leaf table with lion claw feet .
By the beginning of the Georgian period most dressers were fitted with a set of plate shelves which stood at the rear of the dresser top poole pottery est. 1873 . This version was usually referred to as a Welsh dresser and while it may have been popular in the Welsh farmhouse kitchen, it was undoubtedly made throughout Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries drop leaf table with spiral turned legs . Occasionally dressers are found made in walnut but more frequently in oak with the edges of the drawer fronts and the cupboard doors cross-banded in walnut or mahogany antique cabinets coat of arms .
Long sidetables were normally used as sideboards in early Georgian dining rooms and on these would be placed the knife and fork boxes with the cellaret for wines underneath antique french ormulu furniture . It was about 1775 that the first sideboards were designed with drawers for the silver and cutlery and deep cupboards on either side to hold the wines boulle table . Sheraton is supposed to have added the low brass rail with a small silk curtain at the back to the designs for bow-fronted sideboards, which had originated during the Hepplewhite period goldscheider staffordshire myott .
In Victorian times, some monstrous sideboards were created with the addition of the most elaborate carving chamber pot cabinet . In the great dining room at Charlecote Park, near Stratford upon Avon, there is installed such a piece of furniture with carved effigies of every variety of edible fish, animal and fowl hanging in great swags from every point and corner chestnut tables antique . This monument to the questionable good taste of the Victorians is all meticulously worked in varnished oak, a spectacle which must have made the shade of Grinling Gibbons sadly shake its head turn a silver tray into a table .
On the other hand, it was during the mid-Victorian period that a very attractive little sideboard, known as a chiffonier, made its appearance antique claw foot table . It was equally useful as a sideboard for a small dining room or as a cabinet for a drawing room fish tail knife 16th century fruit knife 15th . Made in mahogany or veneered with burr walnut, it was certainly one of the more commendable inspirations of the designers during the Victorian era american antique slant front desk .

Antiques Recently Found on Antcollectors (1)

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
THE FURNITURE OF THE IBERIAN
peninsular during the early 19th century was strongly influenced by prevailing styles in other European countries, mixed with the various tastes, techniques, and regional differences that reflect both Spain and Portugal’s cultural backgrounds.
The greatest foreign influence was the French Empire style. Spain was dominated by France for a period following the abdication of Charles IV and Ferdinand VII in 1808, when Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, introduced a taste for Empire furniture. A similar Francophile furniture style also developed in Portugal, which had come under French rule the previous year.
FERDINANDINO
However, the true flowering of the Empire style in Spain only occurred after Napoleon’s fall. It consequently bears the name Ferdinandino after Ferdinand VII, who reigned from 1814 to 1833. Less sophisticated and clumsier than French pieces, the Spanish variants are usually made of mahogany, with carved gilt decoration instead of gilt-bronze mounts. Classical motifs were preferred, especially figurative devices such as putti or swans. These are epitomized on the typical Gondola chairs, which had legs featuring swans or dolphins. Similarly, the king’s desk in the Royal Palace, Madrid, is made of mahogany supported on carved gilt swans.
The Spanish love of walnut, pine, cedar, and olive wood is also evident in pieces with relatively little decoration and few appliques. Overall, like contemporary Portuguese work, the pieces are heavier than true Empire furniture and often of slightly exaggerated proportions. Spanish pieces from the south also feature an occasional motif echoing Spain’s exotic Moorish past.
Although France was the predominant cultural dynamo, British, German, and Italian influences are all discernable in Spanish furniture of this period. The presence of British cabinet-makers on the island of Minorca helped to diffuse the principles of British Neoclassical design, while 18th-century ties with Naples generated Italianate forms.
With the accession of Isabella (1833-70), and the development of the so-called Isabellino style, a more romantic trend emerged in Spain, which revived many of its historical furniture types, particularly Baroque. As such, it corresponded to the style of the Second Empire in France.
PORTUGAL
In the opening years of the 19th century, British Neoclassical style reigned supreme in Portugal. The French occupation introduced a ponderous version of the Empire style, but when power returned to General Beresford in 1811, so too did a preference for Regency design. Trafalgar chairs were most popular, while the engravings of Sheraton continued to be influential.
Portuguese furniture production experienced a downturn from this time onwards: with the return of Dom Joao VI from Brazil, political and social instability was accompanied by general economic decline. This reached its peak with the civil strife under Maria II de Gloria (1828-53).
Portuguese furniture is characterized by the use of South American timbers, particularly those from the Brazilian forests, such as jacaranda and
pausanto. These woods are easy to carve and allow sharp details, so carving is more common on Portuguese furniture than its French or British prototypes. However, the furniture produced in Lisbon tends to be far heavier and altogether simpler than the examples that inspired them. Generally, some fine-quality furniture was produced, such as the mahogany and gilt-brass mounted suite supplied for one of the bedrooms at the Royal Palace of Queluz.
From the 1830s, when Maria
II’s consort, Ferdinand of SachsenCoburg-Saalfeld, began building the Pena Palace, the German Biedermeier style became popular.
Portugal’s strong colonial ties with India and the Far East ensured that much colonial furniture was also imported, particularly from Goa and the Malabar Coast. Often simplified versions of European styles carved in Eastern hardwoods, they tend to echo 18th-century styles rather than reflect the latest European trends.

PORTUGUESE COLONIAL CABINET
The cabriole legs are joined by a wave-shaped cross-stretcher with a central urn finial in the centre.
The cabinet terminates in claw-and-ball feet. Early 19th century.
NEOCLASSICAL SIDE CHAIRS
These side chairs are part of a set of four. They have mahogany frames with parcel gilt decoration. A scrolled top rail sits above a rectangular backrest. The seat rails are plain, but mounted with gilt rosettes. The chairs stand on circular, tapered legs. Early 19th century.

DINING CHAIRS
These Spanish chairs are made of walnut and form part of a set of ten dining chairs. Each chair is decorated with mask finials. The seat back comprises two vertical rows of turned spindles – the upper row is of widely spaced,
long spindles, and the lower forms a tightly spaced decorative border. The leather seats are attached to the frames with brass studs, and the seat rails are shaped and decorated. The chairs stand on ring-turned, reeded legs, which are joined by an H-stretcher. Early 19th century
MALLORCAN COMMODE
This marquetry commode, one of a pair, is made from mahogany, fruitwood, and rosewood. The rectangular, white marble top rests above a convex frieze drawer, which is inlaid with scrolling leaves, and three drawers, that are
inlaid sans traverse. The drawers are flanked by canted scrolled angles, which are also decorated with leaf inlay. At the base of the commode is an inlaid concave-fronted drawer above a banded rim and acanthus-carved feet.

Clocks
Who the first person was in the New World that became fed up with the inaccuracy of sand timers and sundials and started to make clocks is entirely unknown.
Clocks were imported from both England and Holland. These were operated by
Hepplewhite style American clock in cherrywood with eight-day movement giving date and moon phases.
a spring mechanism. These were so expensive that only major settlements could afford them. Few people had a clock in their own house.
The first clock-makers were through and through craftsmen. They had to make every part themselves to the precise size. The tools available were often extremely rudimentary. The same person often had to make the clock case too.
Generally they sold too few clocks to make a living so that clock-makers were also locksmiths or gunsmiths.
This combination was particularly popular during the American War of Independence.
After this war there were still far too few people who could afford a grandfather clock and so the makers experimented with smaller clocks. Because a large number of original American clocks were introduced many homes soon had their own clock.
Clockmakers
The names are known of around 7,000 American clock-makers. Most of these made the usual types of clock but there are some of them that were so important in the introduction of major innovations that they have to be mentioned.
Abel Cottey arrived in America in 1682 on board the Welcome with William Penn (the Quaker leader whose name is given to the state of Pennsylvania).
He may well be the first clock-maker to establish a business in the colonies. In his workshop in Philadelphia he mainly made longcase clocks that became known as grandfather clocks.
These grandfather clocks later became very popular and can now be found through America. In common with other clock-makers, Cottey made the mechanism, the dial, the pendulum, and the weights himself but left the case to be made by a joiner. These joiners allowed their creativity to run free and many cases are superbly carved in minute detail. Philadelphia proved to be a good place for clock-makers to set themselves up.
Great names such as Christopher Sower, four generations of the Gogas family, the Chandlee family, and Edward Duffiels ring out from Philadelphia. The last of these was a good friend of Benjamin Franklin.
Duffiels was interrupted so frequently by people asking the time that he made a clock with a face on both sides that he hung outside his workshop. The most convivial clock-makers was David Rittenhouse.
Of Dutch origin, he anglicised his name from Van Ritterhuysen. He started making longcase clocks and scientific instruments at the age of 19 in Norristown, Pennsylvania. His clocks were the most accurate of their time (circa 1756) in the colonies. Rittenhouse was so good a craftsman that he made an orrery (complete miniature planetarium) when he was 23 which he sold to Princeton University.
In addition to being a clock-maker he was also a leading physicist, mathematician, and surveyor. His surveys were the basis for the Mason-Dixon line that formed the border between the emancipated states and those where slavery still endured prior to the American Civil War. Rittenhouse was also chairman of the American Philosophical Society. When older he became director of the United States Mint from 1791 to his death in
1795. In addition to Pennsylvania, there were also famous clock-makers in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Willard family of Grafton, Massachusetts, were born with a talent for clock-making.
Benjamin Willard (born 1743) learned the trade with Benjamin Cheney in Connecticut and passed his knowledge on to his brothers Simon, Ephraim, and Aaron when he returned to Grafton.
Benjamin started a clock-making business in Grafton and advertised in the Massachusetts Spy that he could supply clocks that played a different tune every day and a psalm on Sunday. His brothers travelled throughout Massachusetts to sell clocks to people. Simon Willard is the most famous clock-maker of the family.
He invented the bank clock. Aaron Willard developed a model of his own, the Massachusetts ’shelf clock’. Aaron’s sons, Aaron Jr. and Henry did not want to be left behind by the rest of the family and developed the ‘lyre clock’.
Eli Terry (born 1772) became known as the ‘Henry Ford of clock-makers’. He built a small factory beside a stream in 1803 so that a water wheel could turn his machines and lathes. Terry also designed a machine to make cogs. This made production so much more efficient that he was able to accept an order in 1806 for 4,000 clocks.
The prices dropped so much through mass production that he was soon able to export them to Britain. The methods of production continually improved and became quicker and clocks were being made on a grand scale by 1860. Some clock-makers made as many as 100,000 clocks per year.
This was at the expense of the quality of the — mainly wooden — clock cases. Some were so poorly made that any right-minded furniture maker would have thrown them in the rubbish bin straight away. Around 1860, the Litchfield Manufacturing Company was even making cases of papier mdch6, into which clock-makers then glued the mechanism.
Popular clocks of the United States
LONGCASE CLOCKS
The grandfather clock was the first clock for the home to be made in America. These stately clocks originally known as either tallcase or longcase clocks can thank their name to the children’s song
My Grandfather’s Clock.
The first longcase clocks were made in England around 1600 and the earliest known American example originated in
1680. The long case was necessary to house the long pendulum. This case was often designed and made by a cabinet maker.
The mechanism of the longcase clock was made of bronze and wood. The clocks were mainly driven by weights but wind-up clocks came onto the market later. The dial was often made of bronze with engraved or etched Roman numerals and decoration.
The hands themselves often had fine tracery in order to catch the light. Grandmother clocks are a smaller version of the longcase clock and they were extremely popular in the early nineteenth century.
They were mainly made by a group of Boston clock-makers including the Willards, Samuel Mulliken, and Levi Hutchins. The grandmother clock was no taller than 1,200mm (48in).
SHELF CLOCKS
Shelf clocks came into fashion in the New World following the America War of Independence (1775-1783).
This was because their mechanism was driven by a spring. Such mechanisms were more complex and hence less accurate and these clocks were often more expensive. Because metal was in short supply during the war mechanisms were generally made of wood. The first American shelf clocks are so similar to comparable English clocks of the time that many collector has been confused.
The Massachusetts shelf clock (also known as box on box or half clocks) is no taller than 600mm (24in). The clock is set on a shelf instead of on the ground as is the case with longcase clocks.
Because they were intended to be portable, lighthouse clocks had handles attached.
These clocks were fitted with an eight-day mechanism and also incorporated an alarm. The clock could be wound without removing the glass. This type of clock was not very popular and therefore few were made. This makes them now quite rare and therefore highly sought after.
The extremely eagerly sought OG clock first appeared around 1840. The simple rectangular case was completed with ogee moulding.
The wooden mechanism was replaced with bronze ones that were either weight or spring driven. The OG clock remained popular for almost a century. Chauncy Jerome developed a kind of conveyor belt (from an ideas of Joseph Ives) to mass produce bronze mechanisms for these clocks. His advertisements stated that these clocks were suitable for all manner of public places such as churches, banks, shops, ships, trains, saloons, corridors, and kitchens.
Jerome quickly dominated the American market and soon started to export his clocks to Britain. Because they were so cheap the British Customs thought he was trying to avoid paying duty and they seized his first consignment. The Customs paid him his declared value plus ten per cent. Jerome was delighted and sent a second shipment to England. This too was ‘purchased’ by the British government but he sent a third consignment and by now the British finally accepted Jerome’s valuation and allowed his clocks to be imported normally.
The style of his clocks follow furniture styles. The influence of Rococo is clearly apparent in the form of the clocks and their ornamentation in the Jerome & Co catalogue of 1852.
Clocks with pointed columns known as Gothic clocks first appeared around 1845 and originated from the imagination of Elias Ingraham (1805-1885). In common with the furniture style of the time these clocks had pointed columns on either side.
The mechanism incorporated innovations by Joseph Ives — the bronze eight-day movement was driven by an Ives spring. A closely related clock to the Gothic clock was the Beehive which mainly had cases made from mahogany and/or rosewood.
WALL CLOCKS
The ‘wag-on-the-wall’ clock is also derived from the longcase clock. This type of clock was mainly based on the ideas of Isaac Blaisdell for a clock for people for whom the longcase clock was too big. The pendulum is allowed to swing freely outside the case rather like a dog’s tail wagging to and fro.
The banjo clock was originally named by its designer Simon Willard as an `Improved Patent Timepiece’.
Despite the patent he was granted on this type of clock it was widely copied. There are some 4,000 genuine Willard banjo clocks. Willard introduced a number of improvements that enable his clock to run for eight days in spite of using lighter weights. The banjo clock was also more accurate than other clocks because the pendulum was suspended in front of the weights. The case was largely made of glass which was decorated with paintings of landscapes, flowers, and noteworthy buildings. This typical American clock is still very popular with the general public. The ‘girandole’ was designed in 1816 by Lemuel Curtis of Concord, Massachusetts.
This clock is a variant of the banjo clock with a rounded case. The upper and lower parts of the case are decorated with small gilt spheres that are reminiscent of a mirror girandole mirror.
The rounded glass of the bottom section often has paintings of mythological or historical tableaux. Some described the girandole clock as the most beautiful American design of clock. The ‘lyre’ clock was designed by two nephews of Simon Willard: Aaron and Henry Willard.
The clock is clearly related to banjo and girandole clocks. With lyre clocks the dial is positioned on an elegant double scroll that is reminiscent of a lyre. The sides of lyre clocks are often decorated with leaf motifs.
clocks have movements that have to be wound once in eight days. The pillar or scroll clock was the first type of clock to be made by Eli Terry in large numbers. The most unusual aspect of this clock was that the pendulum was mounted slightly to the right rather than centrally.
This type of clock was very popular in the 1830s.
Around 1875 the Americans hit on the idea of using a clock mechanism to make figures move. The ‘blinking eye clock’ was often used as an alarm clock. The clock contained a miniature male figure that blinked its eyes when the alarm went off.
Watches
Watchmakers emigrated to America from Britain, Holland, France, Germany, and Switzerland quite early. They attempted to set up their own businesses but quickly discovered that so many watches were imported that they could not earn a
living. Few watches were therefore produced in America before the mid 1800s. The first to try making watches in quantity as probably Luther Goddard (1762-1842) of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.
He started to make watches in 1809 during a period that imports of watches were restricted by import regulations. He employed a number of other watchmakers but once the ‘Jefferson Embargo’ was lifted in 1815 the American market was once more flooded with foreign watches.
These were much cheaper than the American watches and so Goddard was forced to shut down in 1817. He then decided to become a clergyman instead glass.
A second attempt to make watches in America was made in 1837 by Henry and J.F. Pitkin of East Hartford, Connecticut. They developed machines that made between 800 and 1,000 watches but this business also failed due to foreign competition. After the factory moved to New York in 1841 the Pitkins decided to abandon watchmaking. Finally Edward Howard and Aaron L. Dennison were the first to successfully mass produce watches.
In 1850, forty years after Terry started to mass produce clocks, affordable American watches finally came onto the market. The Waltham Watch Company, as their business was named, survived for a century.
The Elgin National Watch Company was set-up in Elgin, Illinois in 1864. Their first watch was not sold until 1867. At first their watches had to be wound up with a separate key but these keys were easily lost so that they are much prized by collectors.
The company began to make ’stem’ watches in 1873 which had a small wheel on the side with which the watch could be wound. Although watches could now be made in greater quantities they remained expensive. The development of an accurate but cheap watch was a challenge to inventors.