Posts Tagged ‘time’

CLOCKS, WATCHES AND BAROMETERS Bracket Clocks
Repeater clock by Edwardus East with signed and engraved
backplatc in cboniscd case 600 0
A three-train musical clock by Moore of Ipswich with eight tunes in ebony case with gilt metal mounts in mid-eightccnth-century style, 2 ft 2 in high 440 0
George III fruitwood clock by Recordon, late Emery, London, with painted dial and frets at side and front of case, 1 ft 2 in high 290 0
George III walnut clock, the dial signed Joseph Smith, Chester,
and of pronounced Continental character, 1 ft 6 in high 210 0
George III ebonised clock, the 7-in dial signed William Smith, with calendar and strike/silent dial. The movement is contained in an inverted bell-topped case, 1 ft 4 in high 190 0
Louis XV contra-boullc clock with enamel dial signed Darmezin, Paris, and movement signed Crepaux, Paris, in cartouche-shaped case, 3 ft 1 in high 190 0
Louis XV Boulle clock by Pcrrache, Paris, with an enamelled dial, the case surmounted by a youthful figure of Jove, richly mounted in ormolu, 2 ft 6 in high 170 0
George III mahogany clock by Massey, Bridge Road, Lambeth, the circular white-painted dial with a central calendar hand, 1 ft 4 in high 140 0
George III mahogany clock, the 7-in circular dial signed Lamb and Webb, London, with calendar and engraved backplate in bell-top case, 1 ft 4 in high 120 0
Mid-eighteenth-century veneered ebony clock signed John Small-wood, Lichfield, with pull quarter repeat, 1 ft 4 in high (later dial) 85 0
George III mahogany clock, the 8-in arched silvered dial signed Gravell and Tolkien, London, with engraved backplate and tic-tac escapement in broken arch-topped case, 1 ft 6 in high 60 0
Regency rosewood clock signed on dial John P. Smith, 1 ft 3 in
high 20 0
Carriage Clocks
Clock in gilt case by James McCabe, London 675 0
Repeating French brass clock with white dial signed Gibson
and Co Ltd, Belfast, 6J in high 68 0
French brass clock with white dial signed Rowel, Oxford, 4Ј in high
Repeating brass clock with white dial and glazed brass case, 5 in high
Gilt metal timepiece, the glazed case with pierced floral frets at the sides and front, 5 in high and with travelling case
Miniature silver-cased repeating clock with white dial. The case stamped J. Keller, 3J in high
Lantern Clocks
Brass clock with engraved copper dial and an alarm disk, 1 ft 1 in high
Late seventeenth-century brass clock, the dial engraved with flowers and with pierced dolphin cresting, 1 ft 3 in high
Longcase Clocks
Late seventeenth-century marquetry clock, the 11-in dial signed Robt. Williamson, London, with calendar aperture in a walnut case inlaid with shaped panels of birds and flowers, with a bullseye in the waist door and with spirally turned columns at the corners, 6 ft 7 in high (frieze of a later date)
Tall mahogany cased clock with chimes. The elaborately foliated brass dial with a silvered chaptered ring. The case inlaid with classic urns in coloured woods, the arched hood has brass spires and the waist has a bevelled glass door
A carved mahogany cased clock with a grotesque satyr mask to the hood over a brass floral scrolled dial. Westminster, Whittington and St Michael chimes, 7 ft 7 in
Mahogany clock made by Manley of Chatham
Eighteenth-century walnut clock with domed canopy and brass face, the movement by William Stapleton, London, 7 ft 4 in high
Walnut clock, the early eighteenth-century movement signed
Andr. Dunlop, London, the 12-in dial with chestnut and
flower spandrels, 7 ft 4 in high Georgian lacquer clock with brass face and striking movement.
The case, with ‘bullseye’ door, decorated with gilt chinoiseries
on a simulated tortoiseshell ground Eighteenth-century small clock by John Lee, Gookham; with
brass dial and foliated spandrels, in a black lacquer case
decorated with chinoiseries in red and gill
Mantel Clocks
An ormolu clock, the painted dial signed F. Linke, Paris, the movement in a glazed case in well chiselled ormolu with drapery, acanthus leaves and groups of fruit and ending in double cloven-hoof feet, 2 ft 11 in high
Bronze and ormolu mounted clock, the movement contained in a drum upon which is seated a Chinaman holding a parasol, the whole on the back of an elephant, 1 ft 4 in high
A French clock, inscribed Bonniere a Clermont, in a rococo porcelain case. The blue and gilt ground painted with musicians, lovers and flowers. On a similar stand
Louis XVI marble and ormolu clock, the striking movement with enamel dial signed Hessen. The arched architectural case with drapery festoon, pineapple finials, an urn and fluted columns, 1 ft 5 in high 110 0
Regency rosewood clock, the movement by Dwerrihouse &
Carter, Davies Street, 2 ft high 70 0
Philippe clock with glass panels in gilt metal case with corinthian columns and surmounted by an urn. Decorated with coloured enamels, 18 in 68 0
An Empire marble clock mounted in ormolu, the movement with outside count-wheel, the dial surmounted by a white marble urn and suspended between fluted columns capped by ormolu pineapples, 1 ft 4 in high 55 0
Watches
Gentleman’s 18-carat gold half-hunter watch 20 0
Early nineteenth-century verge watch by D. Nevern, in a tor-
toiseshell case, the dial enamelled with a wharf-side scene 13 0
Gentlemen’s 18-carat gold pocket watch by George Harvey,
Wellington 13 0
George III verge watch by William Fowler, London, in a silver
case, London 1783 9 0
Nineteenth-century verge watch by Nicoll, Great Portland
Street, in a tortoiscshcll case 7 10
Barometers
Early   Victorian   mahogany  stick   barometer  by  E. Davis,
Shrewsbury, 3 ft 3 in high 70 0
Regency rosewood inlaid with mother-o’-pearl banjo barometer
and thermometer 46 0
George III mahogany banjo barometer and thermometer with engraved scales by A. M. Ortelli, Godalming, the case outlined with fruitwood lines, 3 ft 2 in high 38 0
Georgian mahogany stick barometer and thermometer by Rout-ledge, Carlisle 38 0
Mahogany stick barometer and thermometer by Salmon, Bath 38 0
A Regency rosewood banjo barometer and thermometer by
Aprile Sudbury 34 0
Early nineteenth-century mahogany banjo barometer by Lione and Tarone, London, with a thermometer and the case inlaid with Prince of Wales plumes and a whorl pattern, 3 ft 2 in high 30 0
Early nineteenth-century mahogany banjo barometer by A.
Celti, Reading, the case inlaid with shells, 3 ft 2 in high 22 0
SILVER
(Troy weight: 20 pennyweights [dwt] = 1 ounce [oz])
Baskets for Bread, Cakes, Fruit, Sugar or Sweetmeats George II oval-shaped cake basket on four cherub mask and scroll feet. The sides pierced and engraved with flowers and
scrolls and the base engraved with a coat-of-arms, by Paul
Crespin, 1753, 62 oz 3,600 0
George III oval pedestal cake basket by John Ernes, London,
1804, 24 oz 10 dwt 400 0
George III boat-shaped pedestal sugar basket with engraved border, reeded edge and swivel handle by Peter, Ann and William Bateman, London, 1793, 5 oz 10 dwt 320 0
Victorian oval basket, the pierced panels embossed with beading
and garlands, London, 1895, 19 oz 62 0
Candelabra and Candlesticks
Pair of George I dwarf table candlesticks, the baluster shafts upon square terraced bases by William Darkeratt, 4J in high, London, 1726, 20 oz 1,500 0
Victorian tabic candelabra with two tiers of six scrolled branches issuing from a bold Corinthian column supported on a square terraced foot, with neo-classic rams’ mask and husk swags by R.H. over R.H., London, 1877, 30 in high 355 0
Pair of George III table candlesticks, the tapering baluster shafts upon half-fluted circular bases by John Green & Co, Sheffield, 1800 195 0
George III chamber candlestick and snuffer, the gadrooned edge
witli shell motif by William Cafe, London, 1761, 12 oz 130 0
Casters
Garniture of three George II vase-shaped sugar casters of plain
design by John Delmester, London, 1758, 15 oz 10 dwt 930 0
William IV Scottish baluster caster engraved with a crest above floral decoration on a granulated ground, by Elder & Co, Edinburgh, 1832, 4 oz 7 dwt 90 0
George III baluster caster with pierced cover and wrythen
finial, by Thomas Satchwell, 1780, 2 oz 4 dwt 85 0
George III vase-shaped caster the otherwise plain body engraved with contemporary crest. The mark of George Giles struck over another, 1783, 2 oz 8 dwt 65 0
Coasters—Wine
Set of four partly fluted circular coasters with gadrooned rims and engraved with crests by John & Thomas Settle, Sheffield, 1818 410 0
Pair of George III coasters with pierced waved galleries, London, 1794 270 0
Pair of William IV circular-shaped wine coasters with foliate borders and crested silver bosses to the wood base, by Henry Wilkinson & Co, Sheffield, 1831 150 0
Pair of George III coasters with beaded rims, the pierced sides stamped with arcading, urns and laurel festoons, maker’s mark missing, 1794 100 0
Coffee Pots
George I small plain cylindrical coffee pot with octagonal spout and low domed cover with baluster finial, by Paul De Lamcrie, London, 1725, 11 oz 3 dwt 1,900 0
George II baluster coffee pot, plain with foliate decorated spout, wood handle and hinged domed lid, probable maker Fuller White, London, 1759, 21 oz 1,350 0
Late George III tapering cylindrical coffee pot, the plain body engraved with contemporary armorials and a crest, by Peter, Ann and William Bateman, London, 1802, 35 ox 2 dwt 1,200 0
George IV coffee pot, vase-shaped, with moulded bands at the neck and waist, leaf-capped scroll handle and foliate finial on lid, by Pearce & Burrowes, London, 1826, 22 oz 5 dwt 210 0
Victorian vase-shaped coffee pot engraved with key pattern
decoration, London, 1872, 24 oz 135 0
Cruets
George II five-bottle cruet frame on four shell feet with detachable baluster handle. Five cut-glass silver-mounted bottles. By Jabez Daniel, 1750, 28 oz 7 dwt 105 0
George III cruet frame for six bottles with reeded loop end handles, ring holders, on four feet. Five glass bottles all chipped, one broken. By Henry Chawner, London, 1792 16 0
Cups and Goblets
Elizabeth I secular wine goblet, the bowl decorated with tulips and strapwork motifs, on a slender baluster stem and circular fluted foot, London, 1593, 5 oz 10 dwt 2,000 0
Pair of George III goblets of plain design, probably by William
Sumner, London, 1800, 20 oz 520 0
Pair of George III two-handled pedestal challenge cups and covers with reeded decoration and urn knops, by Samuel Hcnnell, London, 1806, 32 oz 5 dwt 400 0
George III tumbler cup engraved with armorials, gilt interior and the base with contemporary initials. Possibly by John Garter, London, 1766, 2 oz 1 dwt 150 0
Victorian wine cup, the beaker-shaped bowl and pedestal base cast and chased in low relief with grape-laden vine tendrils, by Hunt and Roskell, London, 1875, 10 oz 1 dwt 52 0
Cutlery—Canteens
George III fiddle thread pattern table silver: 24 tablespoons, 36 table forks, 12 dessert spoons, 12 dessert forks, 12 teaspoons, 6 sauce ladles, 2 soup ladles, 1 marrow scoop, majority by Richard Crossley, 1798/1800/1804, 146 oz 9 dwt 750 0
Victorian fiddle pattern table silver: 12 tablespoons, 12 table forks, 12 dessert spoons, 12 dessert forks, 6 teaspoons, 2 salt spoons, by George Angell, London, 1863, 116 oz 14 dwt 260 0
Cutlery—Forks Dessert
Twelve George I  three-pronged  forks with crest, different
makers, 1718, 14 oz 1 dwt 1,500 0
Twelve George IV fiddle pattern forks by James Scott, Dublin,
1822, 15 oz 75 0
Six George III fiddle pattern forks by G.D., London, 1794,
8 oz 14 dwt 65 0
SOME AUCTION ROOM PRICES ! 1968-69
Cutlery—Forks Table
Twelve Queen Anne three-pronged forks engraved with a crest,
by David King, Dublin, 1708/10, 28 oz Four George II three-pronged forks engraved with two crests,
1755, 7 oz 18 dwt Eleven Victorian fiddle shell pattern forks by George Angell,
1857/61, 36 oz 16 dwt
Cutlery—Forks Toasting
George III fork with knopped shaft and scrolled handle, probably by R. Preston, London, circa 1767, 7 oz 10 dwt. 17f in long
George III fork with knopped shaft and scrolled handle by John Deacon, London, circa 1775, 8 oz. 19i in long
Cutlery—Knives
Forty-eight Victorian table knives and twenty-four dessert knives, kings pattern, steel blades by J.A. or T.S., 1884
Twelve eighteenth-century dessert knives, the multi-faceted bloodstone handles with knopped urn finials and mounts engraved, the scimitar blades of steel. Circa 1700, (Some handles cracked)
Cutlery—Ladles
Four George III sauce ladles, crested Old English pattern by
Hester Bateman, 1783, 5 oz 19 dwt Pair of George III sauce ladles with ribbed and punched beaded
bowls, by Michael Keating, Dublin, circa 1780, 2 oz 16 dwt
Cutlery—Spoons Dessert
Nine engraved spoons, seven by William Soame, 1741, two 1748, 12 oz
Ten Hanoverian spoons engraved with crest, 1760, 11 oz 5 dwt Cutlery—Spoons Serving
Pair of George III Old English pattern spoons by Steven Adams,
London, 1772, 5 oz 15 dwt Pair of Victorian spoons by George Angell, 1854, 10 oz 14 dwt
Cutlery—Spoons Table
Six George I Hanoverian pattern spoons with rat-tail bowls
by Charles Jackson, 1723, 11 oz 2 dwt Six George III Old English pattern spoons with contemporary
initials J.G. by Hester Bateman, 1780, 11 oz 17 dwt
Cutlery—Spoons Tea and Coffee
Six William IV ‘bright-cut’ spoons, 1836, 3 oz 7 dwt Eight George IV fiddle shell pattern spoons by J. McKay, Edinburgh, 1827, 4 oz 8 dwt

PITCHER IN ‘AGATA’ GLASS
New England Glass Company, U.S.A., after 1885.
Ht. 101 mm (7-5 in.)
‘Agata’: Joseph Locke secured the patent
for the making of ‘Agata’ glass shortly
after 1885. According to his patent, it was
made in the following way. The object to
DC decorated was first partially or wholly
coated with a metallic stain of the desired
colour. The part that was stained was
spattered, or had applied to it a volatile
liquid such as benzene, alcohol or naphtha.
When the volatile liquid evaporated, it
left a mottled surface on the glass, which
was fixed to it by firing in a muffle kiln.
The result was an all-over pattern sug-
gestive of a fanciful golden spider-web on
the glass. Sometimes so-called ‘oil spots’
of a blackish-blue colour appear within
the pattern. This type of decoration is
more usually found on glossy pieces than
on matt-finished ones. The New England
(ilass Company, Mass., produced Agata
glass, mostly confined to decorating their
Wild Rose Peach Blow ware.
VASE IN “SECOND GRIND’ POMONA GLASS WITH
BLUEBERRY DECORATION
New England Glass Company, U.S.A., 1886 r .
III. 121 mm (475 in.)
‘Pomona’ glass was yet another invention
of Joseph Locke’s for the New England
Glass Company. His first patent, issued
in 1885, referred to what is now called
‘first grind’ Pomona, and involved cover-
ing the glass with an acid-resistant coating
carved with thousands of minutely en-
graved lines in the parts where a frosted
appearance was required. When the piece-
was plunged into acid, this cut into the
lines, producing the frosted effect once
the acid-resist was removed. Locke-
achieved a cheaper alternative in his
second patent of 1886, now called ’second
grind’ Pomona. To produce a stippled or
frosted ground, the area required was
covered with a thin layer of some finely
pulverised acid-resisting powder; this
adhered to a thin layer of oil or varnish.
All parts of the vessel protected by these
fine particles were not affected by the acid
bath, which produced a fine stippling
over the body of the article. Pomona
glassware was decorated with amber, blue
and rose-coloured stains.
‘Royal Flemish’: The patent for ‘Royal
Flemish’ glassware was issued to Albert
Stcftin in 1894. Raised gold-enamelled
lines divided the glass article into sections,
which were later coloured to give an
appearance rather like a stained glass
window. The different segments were
painted in transparent enamels in con-
trasting colours, usually brown, beige and
gold. The background of this glass is acid-
finished to give a matt appearance. Royal
Flemish glassware was manufactured by
the Mt. Washington Glass Company,
New Bedford, Mass., about 1890, several
years before the patent was registered. It
is noted for its painted enamels with the
designs in high relief, the old Roman
motif medallions often being used, as in
the jar illustrated. Designs include winged
creatures, cherubs and ‘guba-ducks’.
Sometimes Royal Flemish is marked with
‘RF’, the initial ‘R’ being reversed to the
initial ‘F’, and enclosed in a four-sided
diamond, orange-red in colour.
‘Feloton’ glass was patented in 1880 by
Wilhelm Kralik of Newclt, in Bohemia.
According to his specifications a gather of
glass would be dipped or immersed —
cither before or after it was worked into
shape— into a container that held filaments
or threads of coloured glass, this being
continued until sufficiently adhered to the
metal. He stated that these filaments could
be thrown on to the hot paraison, or the
paraison could be rolled on a surface where
the filaments lay, in order to catch them
up. The article would be reheated at the
glory-hole until the filaments became
homogeneous with the original body of the
glass, and it would then be pressed or hand-
tooled to the desired shape. Clear, coloured
and opaque white backgrounds were used.
Sometimes the finished article would be
given an acid bath for a satin finish.
Occasionally, heavy enamelled surface
decoration was added to give a more ‘busy’
effect.
‘Onyx’ glass was produced by the Dalzcll,
Gilmore, Leighton Company, Findlay,
Ohio, from about 1880; it was in this year
that George W. Leighton of Findlay
secured the patent for the firm. Prom the
Specifications il is apparent that “onyx’
glass was made from a sensitive mix con-
taining metallic constituents capable of
producing silver, ruby and other lustres.
The colours were made In subjecting the
glass to heat and gaseous fumes. Lustre
colours applied to the patterns are usually
in contrast to the main bod) ol the piece.
A moulding process was used that involved
two moulds, one lor pattern, one for
ultimate size and shape. Owing to the
difficulty of the technique, il is rare for any
two similar-shaped pieces to be of ihe
same shade. Rough rims arc quite com-
monplace in onyx glassware, since fire-
polishing these extremities could have
caused the sensitive material to change
colour; the rims were therefore cut and
ground to a tolerable smoothness.
K. Varnish, London. England, about 1850
I II 134 mm (o in.)
Silvered Glass: li was not until F. Hale
Thomson’s patent for silvered glass that a
satisfactory and reasonably economic
method of producing it was successfully
introduced. The British patent for the
production of this glass in quantity was
taken out in December, 1841) by Hale
Thomson and Edward Varnish, the piece
illustrated being made by E. Varnish of
I .ondon in about 1850. The goblet consists
of two layers ol glass, with silver mercury
applied to the back of the glass. The silver
has not discoloured, since goblets made b)
Varnish were permanently sealed. In
addition to a clear outer layer of glass, a
coloured transparent outer casing was also
used; this was carved through, to reveal
the silver-reflecting inner layer. Silvered
glass was made in various parts of Europe,
but Varnish was undoubtedly the best
exponent of the technique. Varnish, Hale
Thomson and others used a stamped
metallic disc J-inch in diameter, embedded
underfoot to mark the factory name on the
piece.
Glass with silver decoration was popular
from the last quarter of the 19th century
to just after the First World War. Several
means of depositing silver and other metals
on glass were patented in the last half of
the 19th century, the most notable being
those of Oscar Pierre Krard, a Frenchman
residing in England, and John H. Scharl-
ing of the U.S.A. Erard produced such
exceptional items as the jug illustrated lor
Stevens & Williams of Brierley Hill,
England. In 1889 he and John Benjamin
Round patented their method for electro-
depositing gold, silver, copper and other
metallic designs on glass, porcelain and
earthenware. They prepared a special flux
containing silver, which was formed into
a wash by being mixed with turpentine.
The design was painted on the glass in this
wash and was then fired in a kiln. The
article was placed in a solution of the
particular metal required, and an electric
current caused this to be deposited on the
glass.
Iridescent Glass: From 1863, when Ludwig
Lobmeyer exhibited the first iridescent
glass to be commercially produced in the
19th century, numerous patents were filed
for methods of making this attractive
glassware. The object was to imitate the
iridescence found on ancient pieces of
glass as a result of burial. In 1877 Thomas
Wilkes Webb of Stourbridge, England
was issued with a patent. The secret of his
method lay in the use of a closed muffle
furnace, where the fumes from the evapor-
ation of tin and other metallic salts were
allowed to come into contact with the
surface of the glass vessel. The hot surface
of the glass has an affinity to the acids being
used, thus causing them to remain perm-
anently attached to the glass. The result is
a rainbow-hued, mirror-like appearance.
In 1878 the patent was amplified to include
a fine crackled effect, in conjunction with
iridescence on the surface of the glass.
Patents for iridescent glassware continued
to be registered until the 1800’s, then for
a short time this ware was made only
sporadically. After 1000 the technique
took on a new lease of life both in the
U.S.A. and on the Continent. The best-
known makers of iridescent glassware in
the U.S.A. in the early 20th century were
Tiffany Furnaces, the Quezal Art Glass &
Decorating Company, the Durand Art
Glass Company, the Union Glass Works,
and the Steuben Glass Works. The last-
named produced iridescent glassware
under the trade name ‘Aurene’, which was
granted to Frederick Carder, Samuel
llawkes and W. II. Hawkes of the firm in
Corning, New York, in 1004. Fred Car-
der’s ‘Aurene’ and ‘Verre de Soie’ glass
ranks very highly. He introduced the
technique of spraying the heated glass in
a muffle kiln with a solution of tin crystals
dissolved in distilled water, which attacked
the surface, causing a shining, iridescent
effect.
‘Verre de Soie’, which translated means
literally ‘glass of silk’, shows the iridescent
finish just described. As in the case of the
example illustrated, practically all the
ware is of a soft grey-white appearance.
Occasionally, a very pale green colour is
added in the manufacture. Frederick
Carder, who had been co-founder of the
Steuben works in 1903, looked after most
aspects of the firm’s glass-making until
igi8, when the plant was sold to the
Corning Glass Works. 1 le continued as art
director until 1034, producing a massive
range of new art glassware. Besides the
glasses mentioned, he was responsible for
such specialities as Jade glass, Cluthra
glass, Cintra glass, Acid Cutback, lvrene,
Calcite glass, Intarsia glass, Bubbly glass,
Paperweight glass. Moss Agate glass,
Millcfiori glass, Rouge Flambe glass, and
others.
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1934) de-
veloped many unique forms of art glass,
including iridescent ware. With Arthur J.
Nash and his sons A. Douglas and Leslie
Nash, he set up a factory at Corona, Long
Island, New York. Between the years 1894
and 1920 Tiffany’s registered several trade
marks. Leslie Nash, an accomplished glass
technologist, was granted a partnership in
the Tiffany In maces for his creation of the
‘Peacock’ Iridescent Glassware, which
made Tiffany’s world-famous. It should
be noted that it was also he who developed
‘Cypriote’ glassware for Mr. Tiffany. This
glass, an example of which is shown here,
was an imitation of the pearly and pimpled
effect one sometimes finds on the surface
of ancient pieces of glass that have been
buried for a long period. Tans and blues
are used most frequently as colours for
‘Cypriote’, and the surface looks as if it
were constructed of groups of minute
burst bubbles, the size of pinheads.
Tiffany Furnaces made single-colour iri-
descent glassware in which the surface is
broken up into thousands of fractures that
split ordinary daylight into rainbow col-
ours. They also decorated their iridescent
glass with trails from marvered-in coloured
fibres of glass. The quality of the wares
was enhanced by shapes to complement
the decoration; these include flower forms
such as bulbous tulips, or lily tops on long
stems and wide bases. ‘Lava’ glass is
usually found in deep blue and iridescent
gold glass, as in the example shown. A
splotchy iridescent gold is also found
amongst the deep blue. Tiffany became
famous for many other forms of art glass,
particularly for his Paperweight glass,
Agate, Marbleised ware, Cameo Glass,
Intaglio, Millefiori and Diatreta ware.
Other Tiffany products, apart from vessel
glass, were stained glass windows, mosaics,
enamels, jewellery with iridescent glass
and lamps with shades of floral or insect
design.
VASE IN IRIDESCENT GLASS
J. Ltttz Witwe, Austria, aboui iuoo
in pair de verre
Henri Cros, France, late ii|ih centur) ‘early aoth
». en tun
Some excellent iridescent glassware was
made, during its revived popularity, by the
Austrian firm of Ldtz (Loetz of Austria),
also known as L6tZ Witwe of Klastcrsky
\ll\n. The shapes and surface iridescence
show great similarity to some of the best
American iridescent glass products, not-
ably those of Tiffany furnaces. A com-
bination of iridescent and glossy finishing,
however, is usually restricted to Lbtz, and
is not seen on any Tiffany pieces. Other
makers of fine iridescent glassware were
the Quczal Art Glass & Decorating Com-
pany already mentioned, founded b>
Martin Bach (formerly an employee of
Tiffany Furnaces), in Brooklyn, New
York. The Durand Art Glass Company
produced beautiful iridescent glass at its
factory in Vineland, New Jersey. Late-
pressed iridescent glassware was produced
notably by the Northwood Company of
Wheeling, West Virginia, and Indiana,
Pennsylvania, the Fcnton Art Glass Works
of Williamstown. West Virginia, and the
Imperial Glass Company ol Belaire, Ohio.
Pale de verre, which was known in
antiquity, was revived in modern times by
the Frenchman Henri Cms (1840-1907).
The making of pate de verre is a technique
which lies somewhere between pottery and
glass-making whereby a plastic material of
powdered glass can be made into sculp-
tural forms or vessels by a process of
moulding. Henri Cros started his career as
a sculptor and painter, but was continually
fascinated by ancient techniques, so he
combined both arts in producing models
in coloured wax as craftsmen did in the
16th century. He evidently wished to
discover a plastic substance which could
be used for polychrome sculpture, so he
set to work to discover the lost secret of
plastic glass or pate de verre. It was only
after many years that he found a com-
position of powdered glass that could be
coloured and moulded. At home, and later
at the Sevres factory, he conducted
numerous experiments, and finally suc-
cessfully produced his own pale de verre.
Between 1893 and 1903 Henri Cros
produced a famous series of reliefs in
several colours in pate de verre. To produce
them, he placed in a hollow mould of
refractory clay a mixture of powdered
glass and other constituents in a soft pasty
condition, which was allowed to dry for a
time. It was then fused in a muffle furnace,
the mould breaking away, and the baked
shape was then ready to be polished or
wiped clean. The exact constituents or
how they were worked were never dis-
cussed by Henri Cros; the only informa-
tion he disclosed was that he used ‘un-
coloured powders made from blocks of
glass produced in crucibles’ which was
something of an over-simplification. His
son Jean was the only person to directly
follow in his footsteps, producing works in
pale de verre in his style. Dammouse,
Dccorchcmont and the rest found their
own individual interpretations of pate de
verre.
Albert Dammouse (1848 1926) was a
potter at the Sevres factory and began
experimenting with small vessels in pale
de verre in 1898. The material he used was
a soft enamel paste somewhere between
soft porcelain and glass, basically different
from that used by Henri Cros. The
products had a slight translucency. He
moulded this material into fragile vessels
with delicate flowers in pastel shades. It
could be said of his work that he showed
off the technique of pate de verre to the
best advantage and achieved the finest
harmony between form and material in the
vases he produced. Another worker in
pate de verre who deserves a mention is
Georges Despret (1862-1952); in the
Exhibition in Paris in 1900, he showed
some small bowls in ‘natural’ shapes, of a
heavier pate de verre in dark shades.
Despret’s pate de verre was a dense, almost
opaque, yet richly coloured paste, remin-
iscent of precious stones, which was some-
times engraved. Emile Galle also occasion-
ally made objects in pate de verre.
By Francois Decorchemont, France, i.iuio
Hi. 178 mm (7 in.)
From 1904, Francois Decorchemont dedi-
cated himself completely to the making of
vessels in pale de verre. He had been
originally a painter and potter, but found
the medium of pale de verre more satisfy-
ing. In his early work he used to put his
paste in the mould until it dried sufficiently
to be removed, then he proceeded to shape-
it as a potter did, and bred it in a muffle
furnace. In his later work he never re-
moved the paste from the mould, with
much better results. His first works were
made in a fine but opaque substance which
was rather grey and dull. It was only after
he returned from the First World War,
towards 1920, that he discovered the
formula for a hard, translucent material,
made up of silica and oxide colouring
agents in entirely new proportions. This
material was placed in a mould based on a
plaster model, the thickness being regu-
lated throughout.
vase in green pale de verre
By Francois Decorchemont. France, 1930
Hi. 162 mm (6-38 in.)
Decorchemont’s paste was baked for a
matter of 20 hours in an oil furnace he had
designed on the same lines as an oil lamp.
It was allowed to cool slowly, before being
removed from the mould, and then the
parts that were to look bright against a dull
background were polished. Until 1914 he
had made small vessels decorated with
animal or plant motifs in Art Nouveau
style. Between the wars he continued his
work in pate de verre, which differed from
that of other makers in that he worked with
a fairly heavy material, reminiscent of
natural stone in consistency and colouring.
He moulded this into plain shapes, at
times somewhat hard and angular in
outlines. The vase illustrated, in green
pate de verre, is an excellent example.
When his glasses were exhibited in 1925,
the Recorder of the Glass Section, Antonin
Daum, commented on their ’style, their
form and their sober magnificence’. In
later years Decorchemont did some ex-
quisite sculptural work, which in both
material and shape is reminiscent of jade.
plaque in white vitreous paste depicting
oliver cromw ell
Tassic. England, r.1700. Ht. 152-5 mm (6 in.)
James Tassie (1735-99), his nephew
William (1777-1860), and their successor
(from 1840) John Wilson, made original
portraits and copies of engraved gems in a
white vitreous paste related to pate de verre.
James Tassie was born at Pollokshaws,
near Glasgow, and began his career as a
stonemason. He learnt how to make casts
of engraved gems in glass paste from Dr.
Henry Quin of Dublin and in 1767
established himself in London, where he,
and later William and John Wilson, pro-
duced their medallions, casts and reliefs in
white and coloured paste. Tassie’s medium
was a finely powdered potash-lead glass or
pate de verre, which was first softened by
heating. When fully plastic, the glass was
pressed into a plaster of Paris mould,
which had the impression of the subject
being reproduced on its inner surface.
When an original portrait relief was being
made, a wax impression was first modelled,
from which a plaster mould was then made.
finger bowl and plate in ‘tortoise-shell’ glass
About 1880. Ht. 102 mm (4 in.)
‘Tortoise-SkeW Class was made in both
the U.S.A. and Europe. The ware has a
glossy finish, and the brown mottling is
enclosed between two layers of glass. An
interesting description of the process is
given by a German chemist, Francis Pohl
of Silesia, who received provisional pro-
tection only on a patent registered on
October 25, 1880. Several bubbles of
different shades of brown glass were
blown and then broken into small pieces.
Next, a bubble of plain glass was blown
and cut round the middle, leaving the
lower portion adhering to the blow-pipe.
While this was being done another bubble
of plain glass was being blown and rolled
in the fragments of brown glass, which
were carefully marvered in. This bubble
was inserted in the cut-off upper portion of
the first bulb, and the two were blown
together. The bulb was then reheated and
blown into the required article.
Steuben Glass Works. U.S.A., early 20th century
Ht 254 mm (10 in.)
Cluthra Class: Fred ( .arder of the Steuben
Glass Works of New York was responsible
for many developments in the coloured
glass field. Steuben depended wholly on
its sales of coloured glass to stay in busi-
ness, so vast ranges of colours and a great
variety of shapes were available. One ol
Fred Carder’s developments was the so-
called Cluthra glass, which is a partially
transparent, two-layered glass. The exam-
ple shown is the most common shape in
the Cluthra line. Between the two layers of
glass small air pockets in the centre of
white splotches have been introduced by
the use of chemicals; the air pockets are
slightly off-centre of the white marks.
Cluthra comes in single colours as well as
in shaded pieces; sometimes the pieces arc-
signed. The Kimball Glass Company,
Vineland, New Jersey, also produced a
cluthra-type glass. Knglish Gray Stan
glass, produced in the 1920’s, likewise-
made use of Cluthra decoration.
VASE IN ‘INTARSIA’ GIASS
Hy Frederick (larder. Steuben Cilass Works.
U.S.A., late 1920s early 1930*5
Ht. 15a mm (6 in.)
‘Intarsiu’ glass, made at the Steuben Glass
Works, Corning, New York, in the late
1920’s and early 1930’s, was considered by
Frederick Carder to be his greatest achieve-
ment in artistic glass-making. The name-
was probably derived from mlarsiatura, a
type of 15th-century Italian marquetry.
1 n tarsia pieces are made up of three livers
two clear, colourless layers encasing a layer
of coloured glass which forms the design.
To make a piece such as the one illustrated.
Carder would blow a bubble of clear
colourless glass and case this with a thin
layer of coloured glass. This was allowed
to cool, and a design was etched through
the outer coloured casing. A further gather
of clear, colourless glass was then taken up,
which sealed in the coloured design. The
bubble was then blown to the required
shape—usually a vase or a bowl, though a
few wine-glasses were made.
Powdered Glass Decoration: In 1806, John
Davenport of” the Davenport firm at
Longport, Stoke-on-Trent, England, pa-
tented ‘A New Method of Ornamenting
of all Kinds of Glass in Imitation of
Engraving or Etching, by Means of which
Borders, Cyphers, Coats of Arms, Draw-
ings, and the Most Elaborate Designs may
be Executed in a Stile of Elegance’. A thin
coating of a powdered glass paste was laid
upon the surface of the glass, and a pointed
tool was used to scrape off the coating into
the desired pattern. The glass was then
light!) fired, so that the decoration fused
with the surfaceof the glass. The ornamen-
tation does not really resemble engraving
or etching, but is entirely pleasing. It is
presumed that this patent refers to a group
<il glasses, with the word ‘Patent’ inscribed
on their bases, which arc decorated with a
\anety of patterns, including heraldic-
insignia, and elaborate sporting scenes
with costumed figures dating to the
beginning of the century.
Decorative Inclusions: Apsley Pellatt
(1791-186?) established a glass-house in
Kalcon Street, Southwark, in London. He
was interested in the French process <il
‘cameo incrustations’, or objects contain-
ing ’sulphides’. In 1819 he patented
several methods of embedding small white-
paste figures in clear glass. The process,
which he first called ‘crystallo ceramic-’,
then ‘cameo incrustations’, involved the
enclosing of medallions and ornaments ol
pottery ware, metal or refractory material
in glass. The ornament was pre-heated
then covered with the hot glass; some
difficulties were encountered, due to the
differing rates of contraction and acci-
dental air bubbles. He decorated many
objects in this technique, including paper-
weights, decanters, smelling bottles, wine
glasses, girandoles and plaques. As in the
cup illustrated, the glass vessels were often
finished by fine cutting. The process was
apparently first used in Bohemia in the
mid-18th century, and was later developed
by the French factories such as Baccarat
and Clichy.
The making of objects in crystallo ceramie
has been previously attributed to Bohemia
from the 13th, 16th and late 18th cen-
turies. However, most Bohemian examples
of the technique seem to date to the first
half of the iqth century. Dionysus Lardner
in his treatise on glass-making dated 1832
said that cameo incrustation was first
attempted about 50 years before (that is,
about 1780) by a Bohemian glass manufac-
turer. His success was indifferent, for
‘the material of which he made choice for
his figures, expanded and contracted very
unequally with the surrounding glass, and
their adhesion to it was consequently
imperfect’. Lardner later spoke of the
success of the Frenchmen Saint Amans
and Desprez and of the Englishman
Apsley Pellatt in cameo incrustation. The
most successful of Apsley Pellatt’s methods
involved the use of a mixture of china clay
and supersilicate of potash for his cameos.
These were slightly baked, and then
heated to redness in a muffle furnace,
ready for use with the glass.
Thomas  Sons. Knyiland. 1SX7
Diam. 152 mm (h in.)
A cylindrical flint glass pocket attached to
the end of a hollow iron rod was prepared.
The hot cameo was inserted into this and
the end of the cylinder was closed. Air was
then sucked out of the hollow iron rod,
causing the collapse of the glass on to the
cameo, so that glass and composition figure
became one homogeneous mass. Numer-
ous examples of cameo incrustation can be
found in tqth century glass from French,
Bohemian and English glass factories.
Objects made include plaques, pendants,
scent bottles, covered boxes, tumblers,
goblets, \ ases, and of course paperweights.
Both clear and colourless glass and col-
oured glasses were used in their manufac-
ture. The bowl illustrated is a rarity, since
the cameo incrustation is used in conjunc-
tion with Satinglass, though of course the
cameos are enclosed in clear glass and
applied to the sides of the bowl. Two
cameos of Queen Victoria of England are
attached to the front and back of the bowl,
which was made by Thomas Webb & Sons
in 1887, to commemorate Victoria’s Dia-
mond Jubilee.
doorstop (paperweight in green bottle glass
with ei.ower decoration enclosed
Norlh of Kngland, late igih century
Ml 127 mm (5 in.)
Towards the later part of the 19th century
popular glassware items were the heavy,
clear green glass doorstops or rough
paperweights produced in some factories
in England. These made decorative but
useful glass objects available to working
people. They were made of green bottle
glass, and were of a tall beehive shape, very
often containing the airy pattern of a
flower, as in the example illustrated, or
else enclosing an arrangement of spaced
bubbles. It has been discovered that a few
of these glass doorstops bear the same
stamp that can be found on the base of
bottles made at the Kilner factory in
Wakefield. It is also known that a specially
designed doorstop of this type, enclosing
a ceramic bust—presumably of Queen
Victoria—was made for the 1887 Jubilee
in a glass-works at Knottingley in the
West Riding of Yorkshire.
‘graal’ glass
Simon Gate, Orrefors, Sweden, 1917
When the factory of Orrefors, Sweden,
engaged the two artists, Simon Gate and
Edward Hald to design glass, one of the
major objects of the director and manager
of the factory was that they might be able
to improve on the factory’s production of
cascd-glass vases done in the manner of
Galle since 1914. In 1916 Albert Ahlin, the
manager, Knut Bergqvist, master glass-
blower at the factory from 1914, and Simon
Gate worked out their improvements.
They called their new technique ‘Graal
glass’. In Galle’s cased-glass the process of
cutting and etching the ornamental pattern
from two or three or more layers of glass
was all-important. In ‘Graal glass’ this was
just an intermediate stage, after which the
vessel was subjected to working in the
furnace, where the ornaments acquired
that fluidity which is their greatest fascin-
ation. Gate liked designs in many colours,
with figures in vivid movement.

THE TRIUMPH OF THE GIRANDOLE
The other most characteristic form of earring of the i 8th century was the girandole, which was fashionable throughout the whole of Europe. In the early
j 8th century it tended to have a horizontal shape, the three drops more or less of the same size and at the same level, and the central motif clearly defined and simple in design. Later it became more vertical in emphasis with a longer and larger central drop and a more elaborate central motif.
Above and opposite right: Late i 8th-century girandole earrings from Spain, set with emeralds and diamonds, a characteristic feature of Spanish jewellery. The elaborate central motif combines leaves and spray of flowers.
Centre top: French, circa I 76os, set with foiled rubies and diamonds, the drops and the central motif articulated. The combination of rubies and diamonds and the elaborate bow motif place it in the second half of the century.
Middle: English, second half of the T 8th century, set with foiled garnets. Note the rather stiff design and the clearly defined ribbon motif. The colour of the garnets is enhanced by bright pink foiling.
Bottom: Portuguese, circa 1750, set with foiled topazes. The choice of the gemstones — topazes from Brazil, then a colony of Portugal — and the linear and flat design are typical of Portuguese jewellery.
THE ELEGANT PENDELOQUE
A collection of late i 8th-century silver and diamond pendeloque earrings. These examples show some of the many variations of the pendeloque design, from the cluster, ribbon bow and pear-shaped drop (right and opposite above) to the articulated and elaborate swing centre (centre and opposite below). Note the use of silver as setting metal to complement the whiteness of diamonds. As is normal at this time, all gemstones are mounted in closed settings.
IBERIAN STYLE
Right: A gold and hessonite garnet earring, Catalan, probably early i 9th century. The striking design is a development of the traditional pendeloque design with a cluster surmount, an elaborate floral spray centre and an elongated pear-shaped drop. Many examples are extremely long and heavy, requiring special mounts to support their weight.
Opposite right: A collection of i 8th- and i 9th-century gold earrings, Portuguese and Spanish. These earrings exemplify the persistence, in the Iberian peninsula, of the pendeloque motif based on
surmount, ribbon bow and elongated drop. The great variety of design includes the traditional pendeloque conceived as a cluster surmount set with emeralds or rose diamonds supporting a bow and a pear-shaped drop; the ‘Brincos a Rainha’ with its wide, almost circular, drop with swing centre, entirely pierced in high carat gold; the elongated spindle-shaped earrings chased in gold with scroll motifs known as ‘Fuso’, and the bow pendants (centre of page).
Detail of a portrait of Mary, Countess of Macclesfield, by Francis Coates, exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1763 and much admired by Horace Walpole. The Countess is wearing fashionable diamond girandole earrings.
REFINEMENTS OF THE 18TH CENTURY
Opposite far left: A Portuguese silver and white topaz earring of girandole design, first half of the i 8th century, and (below) front and back view of a diamond girandole earring mounted in silver. The back view shows three typical features of the girandole: the closed setting of the stones; the articulated and detachable drops that allow the earring to be worn in a reduced form; and the additional hoop, through which a ribbon was threaded and secured to the hair.
This page:
Illustrations from 18th-century literature on earrings. Top: An extract from the ‘Discours Preliminaire’ of the Recueil des Dessins by A. Duflos, 1744, where the author expresses his concern about the excessive weight and elaborate design of girandole earrings. Above, left to right: French engraved designs of two girandole earrings and one pendeloque earring by F. LeFebvre (active circa 1635-57); a page of French engraved designs for six girandoles by Pouget, 1762; six engraved designs for pendeloques and girandoles by J. Quien, 1710, published posthumously in London in 1762; and two designs for a two-stone or double-cluster earring, by Duflos, 1744, a fashionable form that cannot be classified as either girandole or pendeloque.
Centre left: A page of French designs by Maria,
175 1-70, engraved by Babel, illustrating fashionable pendeloques and girandoles.
Below left: Four engraved designs for pendeloque and girandole earrings, by an anonymous Italian, circa 1770.
THE PENDELOQUE: Centre right: An unusual and colourful pair of earrings, late T 8th century, set with
THEME AND VARIATIONS cornelian plaques within diamond borders.
Right: A pair of diamond pendent earrings, Russian, mid-i 8th century. The interest in large cushion-shaped brilliant-cut diamonds mounted in closed silver settings is a typical i 8th-century feature.
Opposite: Four pairs of pendeloque earrings mounted in silver or gold and silver with colourless gemstones such as white topazes and rock crystal.
Opposite far right: A pair of diamond pendeloque earrings, English, late i 8th century. Note the large rose diamonds in silver closed settings and the rather severe design typical of many English creations of the time. And (bottom far right) a pair of topaz pendeloque earrings and a matching devant de corsage, Portuguese, mid-i 8th century, interesting for its combination of light yellow and foiled orange stones.
Below: A collection of English diamond jewellery, late i 8th century, comprising typical pendeloque earrings and a flowerhead dress ornament.
OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM
Below: A mid i 9th-century portrait by Joaquin Argasot y Juan of a Spanish lady wearing a pair of large gold and gem-set earrings of girandole inspiration, proving how long earrings of this type continued to be popular in the Iberian Peninsula. Their size explains why additional fittings were required.
Right: Silver and rose diamond pendeloque earrings, probably Flemish; and gold Iberian earrings set with topazes, of modified girandole design, similar to those in the portrait above.
Opposite, top left to bottom right: Gold and gem-set Spanish earrings, a variation of the Catalan type but with a much more slender outline; Catalan earrings; gold Iberian earrings set with emeralds; and garnet Catalan earrings. All on this page late i 8th/early i 9th century.
PEARLS, GEMS AND GLASS
Below: A pair of seed pearl and ruby girandole earrings, Southern Italian, mid-18th century. The use of minute seed pearls threaded on a filigree structure is a typical feature of many Southern Italian and Adriatic jewels of low intrinsic value. Even so the design presents the most typical features of the girandole: cluster surmount, bow and detachable drops.
Opposite: A pair of gilt-metal and glass girandole earrings, probably Italian mid- i 8th century, using copper coloured aventurine glass with gold spangles cut and faceted as if it were a precious stone. Glass paste of various colours was frequently cut and set in i 8th= centuryday jewellery, and even aristocratic ladies who owned precious jewels did not disdain to wear it. The smaller pictures show two pairs of Iberian earrings set respectively with rose diamonds and emeralds, late i 8th century. One is modelled on the traditional girandole, the other on the pendeloque form, which in this region retained their popularity well into the 19th century.
A pair of spectacular Southern Italian gold and seed pearl pendent earrings, late i 8th century. Although this particular type seems to be confined to Southern Italy and the Adriatic regions, its structure conforms to the contemporary pendeloque design. The use of seed pearls had been a typical feature of jewels of this area since the I 7th century, providing an extremely successful and decorative alternative to jewels set with precious gemstones.

BUREAU BOOKCASE AND WRITING TABLE cabinetmakerthomassheraton .
Typical features in the left-hand example are the barred doors and shaped
pediment with fretted detail beneath antique dining table sutherland . The writing table is of a kind that
became popular early In the century scalloped folding antique table .
Gothic was really one of contempt), but it appealed to a passing fancy to pick isolated details here and there and to weave them into the work staffordshire pearlware figures french revolution . At best the result was a mere travesty, and it fell out of favour as quickly as it had come decoupage cabinets .
Our last example of a chair is that in Fig mortlake salt ware stoneware . 112, which shows a small upholstered armchair of about 1755—176o antique spiral leg oak dropleaf table .
Chippendale Period
An interesting feature here are the small fretted corner pieces fitted in the angles of the front legs oval . ‘These were often used on the square leg type of chair and of other pieces having similar legs square walnut and burr elm coffee table .
Settees porcelain table casters .—The Queen Anne settee NN,itb double or triple back has already been mentioned gate leg fold over antique tables . In Fig george i folding card table antique . 113 is its development in the early Chippendale period “biedermeier candelabra” . There is a great deal about it that is strongly reminiscent of the walnut period, especially in the rounded shaping of the back and the arms with their acutely scrolled front corners octagonal oak carved table . The
FIG antique meissen clock . 120 brandt mahogany 2 tier table . SIMPLE MAHOGANY CHEST OF DRAWERS,
1760-,770 collectors of paul frankl .
Although of plain form this simple furniture was thoroughly well made
as a rule gateleg drop leaf table 19th century . It was the sort of thing that the merchant class would have
used spiral legs on drop leaf table .
shell detail, too, is retained in the top rail of the back, and the splats, although pierced, have in their general outline something that can be traced back to the Queen Anne urn shape davenport “pattern numbers” .
It will probably be felt that there is something unsatisfactory about the back marqueterie cabinet . The centre section is well balanced enough, but those at the sides are uneven because the main side uprights are different from the curves of the wide inner uprights identify - shaped pedestal or pillar leg . This difficulty was sometimes overcome, especially in latter Chippendale models, by making the inner uprights double, each part being a replica of the main outer upright refectory wood .
Revival of Veneering
CHIPPENDALE TABLES
We saw in the last chapter that, apart from the William Kent productions, side tables had usually cabriole legs and were often fitted with marble tops antique porceline candle sticks . A tendency was to introduce an elaborate apron piece between the front legs, this being usually pierced right through and carved with acanthus leafNvork intricately scrolled and intertwined art deco inspired bookcase . It rapidly began to grow out of all proportions until the beginning of the Chippendale period why are pier tables called .
Fig kitchen antique furniture deux corps cupboards . 114 shows a small table of simple form, and of special
FIG antique inlaid occasional table . 121 art nouveau porcelain marks . SERPENTINE SHAPED COMMODE telescopic supports for tables .
i76o-1770 antique brass and marble cocktail table 1950 .
This shows strong French influence both in general form and in the detail
of the carving mallard tester bed . It would have been extremely expensive to produce and
be made for only the wealthiest classes antique dressing table 1925 .
interest in that it shows a revival of veneering bernard palissy . In fact it may be mentioned here that a great deal of veneering was done in Chippendale pieces, probably as an economy in the finely-figured woods then being imported century italian provincial cherry bombe armoire . It was, however, usually of a different spirit from that of the Queen Anne period, when the veneer usually hid entirely the construction antique table wooden hinge drop leaf . In Chippendale work no attempt is made as a rule to hide the construction, and any detail is usually subservient to obtaining good strength antique dinner services .
The difference came about in this way antique adams and sons company england ironstone . A Queen Anne cabinet maker would make the framework of, say, a door and would veneer it so that the latter ran right across the joints, concealing them entirely chinese precious stone and laquer cabinets . In Chippendale’s time the
cabinet maker used far thicker veneer (about I in italian nlaid bronze marble table tops .) and 8
generally veneered his parts before jointing and putting them together what is a chamber pot of 1800s . In this way the joints were bound to show, and it involved no practical difficulty because the veneer was thick enough to allow the joints to be levelled with the plane after being put together, a thing which would have been quite impracticable when the veneer was thinner flemish ivory inlay furniture antique .
The table in Fig spode ironstone china . 114 is rather an exception to this general rule in that the top rail was veneered after it had been jointed to the legs george serving table fluted . It is easy to tell this because the veneer runs across both rail and legs what is antique library table worth . Cross-grained veneer is the exception rather than the rule in Chippendale work, though in a case like this advantage was taken of the fine figuring to show it at its best refectorytables . The legs are of the straight moulded type already noted, and are deeply chamfered at the inner corners to lighten the appearance tripod table marble .
Use of Frets black desk curved legs .—Another table showing typical Chippendale features is that in Fig antique crofters cottage antique . 115 antique draw leaf table . It has the square moulded legs with deep chamfer, and the rails are decorated with frets antique cherry dictionary stand . This form of ornament was originally derived from the Chinese style north west antique dresser . In its purely Chinese form it consisted of intersecting straight lines somewhat in the form of lattice work (see the chair back in Fig antique mahogany drum tables library tables writing tables . III), but the idea once prompted soon developed into a purely Western conventional design consisting of curves and scrolls nabeshima antique . On p classic white bombe drawers maker . 157 is given a group of typical Chippendale frets, some still distinctly Chinese in character, and others of the conventional English form empire furniture company .
These frets, where similar positions to that in the table in Fig copper brass tray coffee table . 115, were later applied—that is, they were not carved out of the solid wood, though often enough the ends of scrolls and other small details were touched up with carving tools to give a more realistic appearance of carved work spaanse 17de eeuwse antieke tafel . In some cases the frets had no backing lidded urn with hole underneath . For instance, little galleried edgings were often fitted to small tables george hunzinger chairs . These were pierced right through in the form of a fret meissen whiteware animal . The cabinet makers soon found that these had little strength when cut out of a single thickness because the grain was necessarily short in certain parts small round chippendale center hall table . Consequently they hit upon the idea of glueing together three or more pieces of veener, the grain of the centre layer running at right angles Chippendale Side Tables
to those outside french design desk . Frets cut in this were considerably stronger graduated drawers formula . This is probably the first example of the use of plywood, though of course it had little in common with the large plywood panels produced to-day daghestan prayer rugs .
Side tables, such as that in Fig antique walnut settee chairback . 115, would be placed in

FIG chamber pot . 124 writing table with bookshelf design . CHIPPENDALE FRETS german antique card table .
,760-,775•
A, B and C are conventional patterns of Western form antique book ends . D and E show the Chinese influence dating meissen figures .
the dining-room, and their purpose was to provide a useful standing space for the dishes art nouveau antique drinking cabinet . The day of the sideboard with drawer and cupboard accommodation had yet to come classical column drawing . The reader may care to turn to Fig antique drop dresser with marble top . 116 to see examples of other kinds of legs used in tables of this kind french console table 1830 . The second example is interesting in that it is pierced right through, a detail which came from the Chinese influence what is a chippendale ring . One entirely new form of leg is the fourth example, which is composite, that is, built up of a number of small separate pieces antique gilded table glass . It consists of a series of clusters of turned columns fitted between squares antique chamber pot chair . Quite light tables had this form of leg mallard tester bed .
Many new kinds of occasional tables made their appearance at this time, and amongst them was the small tripod form also shown in Fig chippendale pinecone . I15 regency side chair with brass motif . The simpler examples were quite plain, consisting of three legs (like that at F, Fig antique gateleg table and chairs center drawers . I16), joined to a turned centre upright, and a circular top love seat pietro piffetti . Finer specimens as that in Fig antique vitrine table . 115 had acanthus carving on the knees of the legs and on the turned upright chinese export porcelain wall plaque . The edge of the top, too, was often ” pie-crusted antique book ends .”
BURFAUX AND WRITING TABLES
We saw in Chapter V how the
great increase in writing led to the
introduction of pieces intended
specially for writing antique dressing table w/mirrors . Of these the
bureau (usually with the bookcase
above) and the writing table
remained popular palissy patterns . The secretaire
in its original form, with huge fall
writing top, lapsed, though a certain
number of pieces with compara-
tively small falls were made antique mahogany rent table . These
were similar to the bureau except
that the fall when closed was
upright antique “duncan phyfe side chair” . When opened out flat the
whole writing arrangement was
made so that it could be pulled forward, so giving easy
access to the stationery nest and providing ample knee space harlequin pattern commode for sale .
CHIPPENDALE GRANDFATHER CLOCK checkoslovakian figurines .
1760-1770 red and yellow rose czechoslovakia china .
The domed shape of the hood
with a pediment above was
Invariably used markings on antique candelabra .
Writing ng Bureaux
A simple Chippendale bureau is given in Fig chippendale rosewood table . 117 art deco modern deco antique furniture . It is similar in general form to its predecessor of Queen Anne’s time, though, apart from being in mahogany, the decorative treatment is entirely different tub chair design . Sometimes the sides, drawer fronts, and so on were veneered (about 8 -1 in antique oak table trestle drop leaf . thick), but there was no ruling on the subject duncan phyfe drop leaf buffet table . In any case, when veneer was used the front was simply regarded
as a solid piece with a facing of mahogany ; that is to say, there was no attempt to use the veneer to give a decorative effect as in walnut work collector’s table . No quartering or crossbanding was used lenci artist signature . Drawers were usually surrounded by a cocked bead, as in the present example “lion feet” wardrobes . For interior parts, drawer sides, etc chinese wooden tables with brass leaves inlay ., oak was generally used value susie cooper tea set yellow with blue dots .
Another bureau similar in form, but with bookcase above, is shown in Fig antique jacobean dropleaf desk . iig antique pembrook game tables . The bookcase has many typical features, of which the pediment with carved rosettes and fretted underpart, and the barred doors are the most obvious antique duch east india company plates . These barred doors were a continuation of the Queen Anne type (see Fig elements of art value . 84), whic h probably owed their origin to the comparatively small sizes in which glass was first available fine bohemian china made in czechoslovakia compagnie . All the panes are separate and fit between bars consisting of a moulding, usually an astragal, with a thin flat bar at the back to form rebates for the glass . A few other Chippendale patterns of barred doors are given
in Fig antique upholstered chair curved side . 122 italian wood armchairs . Both these bureaux are Note the use of bracket feet in both flatware 17th century .
almost universally in these pieces, though in finer specimens they were often finely carved chinese influence to rococo . More elaborate specimens had pilasters flanking the doors with fine carving in them, and had altogether more elaborate pediments victorian cherry drop leaf table .
A writing table is shown in Fig antique desks/captain’s davenport . 118 napoleon antique chests . In this we have a variation of the bracket foot, the solid plinth theodore haviland 1958 pattern . Note that POLE
SCREEN parts of chambersticks .
About 1765•
The screen portion was
made so that it could
be adjusted at varying
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of simple form delicate trestle table .
certain of the mouldings are carved amakusa candlesticks . This was a revival which took place in the mahogany period recipe for “soft paste porcelain” . In the earlier oak days carving was used to decorate mouldings to a considerable extent, but it lapsed entirely in walnut furniture because in this the mouldings were invariably cross-grained italian inlaid sideboard . This produced a decorative effect in itself, but it was not practical to carve them because the cross-grain was simply a thin layer glued over a solid groundwork spider leg circular dining table . With the return
FIG, 127 15th century chamber pots . TYPICAL MOULDINGS OF THE CHIPPENDALE SCHOOL vizagapatam furniture .
1750-1775•
In his finest work Chippendale invariably used carved mouldings spanish revival walnut console table . It was prob-
ably the result of his being a carver by trade value of 19th century silver apostle spoons .
to the use of solid wood in the first half of the eighteenth century carving was once again possible, though it was on altogether finer lines than that of oak work tambour commode . A smaller writing table with knee hole space is given in Fig vintage wooden handled three tined dinner forks . I ig antique collectors cabinet for sale .
BEDROOM FURNITURE
The chest of drawers, established by Queen Anne’s time, was a recognised part of the furnishing of a Georgian bedroom antique spanish cabinet marble top . In its simplest form it was often severely plain with no decoration 4 foot drop leaf table . The drawers usually had a surrounding French Influence
cocked bead, but even these were primarily utilitarian, since their chief purpose was to protect the edges of the veneer antique walnut writing table with pillar (post) legs . An example of this simple furniture is given in Fig tripod side table . 120 barometre du style directoire . The chamfered front corners are worth noting because, although in this particular example they are quite plain, in better class pieces they were often developed as an important feature, carving, fluting, or frets often being used as decoration antique shop slovakia . A chest of this kind would have been used in the house of one of the middle classes or in one of the lesser bedrooms in an important house burr walnut tallboy with sunburst inlay .
In contrast is the fine chest of drawers or commode shown in Fig marble dining table antique oval modern . 12I antique wooden oval french music stands . A piece of this kind represents the high water mark in cabinet work, and is obviously the product of a first-class workshop silver pillar candlestick . It is distinctly French in character, and is probably taken from a Louis XV commode, except that, whereas the latter would be largely gilded (probably the mountings of the legs would be of metal), in the present example they are entirely in mahogany, showing its natural surface english bone handled knives and silver forks . A feature adding considerably to the difficulty of making such a piece is the fact that it has compound shaping ; that is, in addition to being of serpentine shape in plan, it is shaped in its height antique escritoire desk . This double shaping was often used in Louis XV work for the French were a long way ahead of us in work of this type—possibly because very elaborate work has never specially appealed to us drop leaf walnut table gate legs . Other features in the chest definitely of French origin are the scrolled legs, with their Rococo ornament and the handles daniel quare 1674 tortoiseshell case pocket watches . An enlarged detailed drawing of one of these French type of handles is given on p how much did porcelain cost in the 1500s . 02 antique french drum table .
Bedsteads england biedermeier chest of drawers .—The Queen Anne bedstead was for the most part the four-poster type, entirely covered with soft materials, as in the example given in Fig antique bureau writing desk . 96 candle sticks antique porcelain victorian couple . A few were made with head and foot and no upper tester, these having a typical Queen Anne shaping at the top of the panel and cabriole legs below “jean luce” arzberg . A great many modern reproductions of the type are made to-day 19th century native american pottery . The majority, however, were four-posters, with every part of the woodwork (except possibly the feet) covered entirely up with velvet and other materials 18th century worcester porcelain . It was scarcely a thing fit for everyday use in an average house, though it might be well enough in a palace french chippendale dining table library desk . It was not like a four-poster with curtains only that could be taken down and washed dressoir timber . Once the material became faded Chippendale Bedsteads
or worn nothing short of stripping off the whole would be of the slightest use 18th century french silver makers .
In Georgian times came a return to the all-wood bedsteads burslem yellow trellis ceramics . In a sense these were similar to the four-posters of Jacobean times, but were altogether lighter and were in mahogany instead of oak walnut and glass coffee table, italian . A Chippendale example is given in Fig 19th century. mahogany buffet . io6, P- 136 historismus beakers . In some cases the Chinese character was used entirely writing bureau “sliding” . There stands in the museum at South Kensington a bedstead of this kind, in which the tester follows the form of a pagoda roof, whilst the back is decorated with lattice work drawing furniture by michael thonet . The whole thing is in gold and black lacquer and was probably made in Chippendale’s own workshop name a piece of furniture that begins with v .
The development of the grandfather clock is shown in Fig french/belgian art deco table for sale . 125 where can i buy antique candlesticks in dorset? . Note the scrolled pediment above the rounded heading of the hood door antique coaching table .

EARLY 19TH CENTURY REGENCY BRITAIN FURNITURE

THE REGENCY WAS a clearly defined
period in British history From 1811 to 1820, the Prince of Wales, who later became George IV, ruled instead of his father, who was suffering from porphyria – a form of madness. However, as a furniture style, Regency has come to embrace a wider time frame, from the 1790s to the third decade of the 19th century.
Reflecting the exuberant tastes of the Regent himself, the period begins with his commission of the Neoclassical architect Henry Holland for his London home, Carlton House, in the 1780s, and concludes with the exotic, Oriental confection that is John Nash’s
Brighton Pavilion, remodelled for the Prince of Wales between 1815 and 1823. George, the Prince Regent, came to dominate taste in the early 19th century. He and his circle drew on a diverse group of talented architects and artisans, often trained in France, many of whom had worked on Carlton House. These included the architect, Charles Heathcote Tatham, the decorators and cabinet-makers, Morel and Hughes, and the clock-maker, Benjamin Vulliamy.
FURNITURE STYLE
Regency furniture is often symmetrical with clean, rectilinear lines. As such, it was inspired by French Empire furniture and the simple late 18th-century furniture designs of Thomas Sheraton. Large surfaces were often veneered in highly figured rosewood and then decorated with gilt-brass mounts of ancient motifs, such as rosettes, paterae, laurels, and anthemia. The Liverpool cabinet-
maker George Bullock is best known for his use of patterned surfaces; he frequently balanced English timbers, especially oak, with a riot of border patterns featuring stylized flower-heads, lotus leaves, and dot motifs.
The strict Neoclassical taste found its most archaeological expression in the designs of Thomas Hope, which he published in 1807. Not only had he plundered ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome for decorative ideas, but he also attempted to recreate ancient furniture and interiors. Probably the most
typical furniture of this type is the rounded klismos chair – first known to have been produced in ancient Greece
– which has back stiles that rise from outswept sabre legs to support an almost semi-circular back.
During this period, a wide variety of side cabinets of diverse outlines came to dominate the wall space in drawing rooms, replacing the use of commodes. In the dining room, a similar role was performed by the popular sideboard and chiffonier.
ECLECTICISM
It would be a mistake, however, to see the Regency as simply a curvaceous and light Neoclassical style. It was characterized by endless variety, a freedom of forms, and an eclectic
ornamental vocabulary. George Smith, who published a pattern book the year after Hope, reinterpreted his cold, academic designs by applying Neoclassical motifs to French Empire models that also included Gothic-and Chinese-inspired furniture. Indeed, exotic forms and materials became the hallmark of Regency taste. Smith popularized Hope’s designs in his pattern book, introducing them to a wider public.
Smith inspired impressive-looking furniture, with boldly carved leopard’s masks or large lion’s-paw feet, which anticipated the slightly heavier furniture of the 1820s and 30s.

The front rail and highly scrolled ends are inlaid with trailing foliage and flowers, terminating in floral paterae.
The seat rail is inlaid with a trailing brass foliate motif.
The design of the chaise longue is influenced by the contemporary French form, the meridjenne - a type of sofa with scrolled ends, one higher than the other.
Brass inlay detail
CHAISE LONGUE
This elegant Regency chaise longue is made of rosewood and is profusely inlaid throughout with brass inlay in a foliate design. The frame has a sweeping back rail which is centred with a scrolled hand grip, and has highly decorative
scrolled end supports. The generously padded seat and arms are supported on a rectilinear front rail decorated with a foliate motif. The piece stands on outswept sabre legs which terminate in lion’s-paw feet on casters.
Sabre legs terminate in lion’s paw feet and casters.
SMALL CENTRE TABLE
The surface of this tilt-top table has a painted scene within a laburnum veneer border. It is supported on a rosewood-veneered stem, on a base with scrolled, ribbed feet on brass casters. Early 19th century
MAHOGANY STOOL
This Regency mahogany stool has a gently shaped rectangular seat with scrolled ends and light carving on the surface. It is supported on an X-frame base with simple, carved decoration and stretchers. c.1810.
This mahogany writing table has a three-quarter brass gallery and a central, pull-out insert. There are six drawers behind a lift-up flap, two drawers on either side, and two in the frieze, supported on slender, turned legs. c.1800.
LIBRARY TABLE
The rectangular top of this rosewood library table is inlaid with a Greek-key border in satinwood and ebony. The frieze has a central pierced ormolu palmette and two drawers. The bowed legs are headed by gilt lion’s heads and
terminate in lion’s-paw feet, joined by a shaped stretcher. c.1810.

Clocks
Humankind has always been able to follow the passage of time through observing the sun, moon, and stars. They saw the seasons come and go and noted the phases of the tides of the sea. The regularity of these was recognised thousands of years ago and calculations of time were based upon them.
Humankind started from those phenomenon that were most readily apparent: the month, the year, and the rhythm of day and night. The month is based on the waxing and waning of the moon, and the year and day and night on the rising and setting of the sun. Other astronomical observation are also useful for measuring time.
Hence the ancient Egyptians made a link between the annual flooding of the Nile and the rise of the brightest star, Sirius. We still make wide use of units of time that resulted from these observations. The division of the year into twelve months is due to the prior existence of twelve star signs.
The Egyptian year was 360 days because a circle was divided into 360 degrees. The Egyptians had to add five days on to each year to make it fit. Even the division of the day into 24 hours has its roots in antiquity and has held firm since ancient times.
The only attempt to decimalise time happened during the French Revolution. Experts have failed in their attempts to develop a better system.
The western calendar is determined by time and the sun but this is not true of the entire world. The Islamic world has a moon calendar.
Mechanical clocks, invented in the late 13th century, and watches, first made at the end of the 16th century, are among the most fascinating of antiques. This is in no small part due to the numerous innovations and improvements introduced to their mechanisms for keeping accurate time, particularly since the 17th century. Their attraction, like that of related instruments such as barometers (for recording atmospheric pressure), thus resides to a large extent in our enduring appreciation of technological ingenuity, although on a more fundamental level it also stems from the near-universal preoccupation with the passing and recording of time. However, clocks and watches also have tremendous decorative appeal; for example, many pocket watches and wristwatches are sought after as much as for the qualities of their design as for the accuracy of their time-keeping. Similarly, most types of clock – including wall, longcase, bracket, and carriage, to name a few – display the skills not only of the clockmaker, but also of the cabinet-maker, polisher, engraver, brass caster, and dial painter. Such timepieces can therefore be appreciated in much the same way as a piece of furniture, or even a painting. Indeed, some of the more elaborate examples have been described as mechanical pictures.
Measuring time
The attraction of clocks lies in the combination of mechanical and aesthetic form. In our current age we are almost always aware of the precise time and the radio news is generally broadcast precisely on the hour. Because we take the measurement of time for granted it is probably difficult for us to understand its importance.
Well-to-do families by the late nineteenth century probably had a clock in every room in the house and each adult probably had a pocket watch. Before the railways made national time a necessity, every clock was adjusted to local time.
The clocks and watches were mainly set by the local church clock, which was in turn set according to a sun dial.
Measurement of time with a mechanical clock as we know them is relatively recent but there were forerunners of our clocks. The best-known is the sun dial that was probably discovered by the Sumerians who also observed the sun, moon, and stars, just like the ancient Egyptians.
The simplest sun dial is a stick placed in the ground. They also discovered that a sun dial can only provide accurate time when it is known precisely when the sun is due south.
From this followed the discovery that the position of the shadow depended on the position of the sun, which varied at different times of the year. In about 1000 BC the Chinese discovered that it is better to place the indicating arm of a sun dial at an angle and at right angles to the plane representing the supposed daily travel of the sun around the earth.
In reality the indicator is positioned parallel to the earth’s axis. Although small errors can occur, these discoveries made the sun dial a very reliable means of measuring time.
This meant that seafarers needed to take account of the place where they were with their sun instrument. The sextant developed gradually into a complex instrument that is still widely used to this day throughout the world. A water clock was used in ancient Mesopotamia to measure time. A container was specially constructed so that the water it held ran out slowly. A scale on this container (or the one into which the water flowed) indicated how much time had passed. It was later realised this could be indicated by means of a pointer and also that the flow of water could be used to power a mechanism.
The hourglass filled with sand is based on the same principle. It may seem strange but the first hourglasses were not made until the fifteenth century. Only then had glassblowing reached such a level in which the hourglass could be accurately made.
The sun dial was the most reliable timepiece for a very long time and the arrival of mechanical timepieces did not instantly make them redundant, since the mechanical clocks were far from accurate. Because the angle of the earth’s axis with the sun varies during the year, sun dials are also not always precisely correct. Hence a mechanism was needed that was entirely independent of the apparent movement of the sun, leading to clock mechanism.
The history of clocks runs through a never-ending series of improvements in order to sub-divide time into increasingly uniform units. All clocks rely upon the creation of a motion that is constant. Considerable effort was required to reach this situation.
Mechanical clocks
It is unknown when the first mechanical clocks were made but it is certain that clocks were being made in fourteenth century Europe. The first clocks probably came from northern Italy.
These were clocks in churches and cloisters that were driven by weights. In cloisters they were used to indicate the time for prayer. The word clock is derived from early German and Dutch klocke which actually meant bell that was derived from the French word for bell which is cloche.
This indicated the bell sounded by monks (even in the middle of the night) to call them to mass. Wall-mounted and table clocks appeared some time after this in the homes of the wealthiest persons.
The conversion of motion into uniform periods of time was not very precise in these early clocks which had a primitive balance wheel (English clocks) or foliot (Continental clocks) that was a forerunner of the later pendulum. Church clocks were set and adjusted by means of a sun dial and the striking of the church clock was used to adjust clocks in the home.
The first clock-makers travelled around Europe but as demand increased they established themselves in fixed places, choosing towns such as Nuremberg and Augsburg where they established guilds mid-way through the sixteenth century. The German table clock became more common property with the rise in living standards and many such sixteenth century clocks have survived.
Christiaan Huygens and his inventions
The Dutchman Christiaan Huygens made a discovery that was of tremendous importance for the further development of timepieces. Born in The Hague on 14 April 1629 into a family of five children, he received a good education.
His father was the poet Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687). This influential and talented figure corresponded with people such as Descartes, Mersenne, and Diodati (a friend of Galileo Galilei).
His son Christiaan was known principally as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer.
In the area of physics he made his name with his studies of the motion of a pendulum and in theories regarding light waves. He also constructed a telescope with an improved lens. This enabled him to discover Saturn’s ring. His invention of the pendulum was of considerable importance for clocks. Between 1655 and 1660 Huygens devoted his time to seeking an accurate means of determining time. He came upon the idea of using a pendulum in 1656 and patented his idea for a pendulum clock in 1657.
This clock was then made by Samuel Coster, of The Hague. By comparison with other clocks of the age, the accuracy of Huygen’s clock was astonishing. This was of importance both for astronomy and physics.
Huygens also wanted to create a clock which would enable seafarer’s to determine their longitude. A pendulum was of no use on board ship but he eventually solved this with a balance wheel with clockwork driven by a spring. His invention is utilised in the spiral spring of a pocket watch.
The theory of the pendulum was finally described by Huygen’s in his Horologium oscillatorium of 1673. In this important book he showed mathematically that the oscillation time of a swinging weight — which has arc-form strips on either side of the suspension point against which the thread comes if it deviates beyond this point — is independent of the maximum swing of the pendulum. In this case the weight no longer describes a segment of a circle but a cycloidal motion. He also demonstrated the relationship between the length of the pendulum and duration of the swing and also the centrifugal force when a pendulum describes a circular path. Huygen’s discovery of the pendulum clock was a true milestone in the development of clocks. With this discovery he succeeded in overcoming the irregular frequency of the balance escapement. The regular swing of the pendulum proved to be an ideal regulator for clock mechanisms. Sufficiently accurate for a minute hand to be added to clocks.
The invention of the balance wheel spring mechanism is ascribed to both Huygens and the Englishman Dr. Robert Hooke, a physics and chemistry teacher at Gresham College. He claimed the invention of the mechanism for watches in 1658. A balance is a combination of a mass with a spring that returns the mass to its original position when it moves. Both men used this discovery to improve the accuracy of portable timepieces.
The first pendulum clocks
Dutch makers naturally made use of Huygens’ discovery of the pendulum. They were produced in many forms: Friesian longcase and hanging clocks, Amsterdam longcase clocks, Zaandaam clocks, and Friesian, Gronginen, and Drenthe bracket clocks.
Huygens patented his invention and the first maker to produce a pendulum clock under licence to his design was Salomon Hendrikszoon Coster. This clock did not have a long pendulum as in Huygens’ design though but a short one.
The mechanism was contained in a small case that became known as a Hague clock. It is a type that can be still seen in many English, French, and Dutch table clocks. Not all Hague clocks have pendulums though. Earlier types have a sprung cylinder or weight.
The knowledge of pendulums was taken to Britain by Ahasuerus Fromanteel, a London maker who was apprenticed
LBottom left: Friesian longcase clock from Grouw, made by D.J. Tosma in 1770. The clock not only gives time to the second but also the date, day of the week, month, and moon phase. The mechanism also plays six tunes, has 14 bells and 28 hammers. From the times of water-powered clocks, all manner of mechanisms have been incorporated with clocks.
escapement. Countless variations of this invention have been developed in the following three centuries.
to Coster. Huygens himself took the knowledge to France. Shortly after his patent was granted, Huygens visited Paris where he allowed several makers to produce table clocks with a pendulum mechanism. It was neither the Dutch or French clock industry though that saw the advantages of Huygens’ invention but the British who used it extensively. This formed the foundation for the leading role English clocks were later to take.
An Englishman also found a way of improving Huygen’s invention. One problem of his design was the inertia created for the pendulum mechanism each time the escapement wheel was released. This problem was solved in about 1670 by the Englishman William Clement who invented the anchor
The external form of the clock
After the invention of the pendulum mechanism, the cases of most clocks changed from metal to wood. The outward appearance of clocks in the two most important clockmaking countries of England and France went in different directions. A French clockmaker ordered mechanisms in standard sizes which he then incorporated into the case that he built. A consequence of this was that clock cases in France always ran consistent with the major developments of style.
Because the whole process was kept in the hands of the clock-maker in England, the emphasis was far more on the mechanism. For this reason, English clocks tend to run about twenty-five years behind the development of styles. This changed at the end of the eighteenth century through the influence of the great designers such as Adam, Chippendale, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton.
There are other differences between French and English clocks. The French produced large numbers of table and bracket clocks while the English preferred hand-made clocks and watches.
The face of English clocks remained fairly rectangular while from 1715 onwards the French stuck to round ones.
A MARITIME CHRONOMETER
At the start of the eighteenth century the British government was aware of the importance of accurately determining position at sea and passed the Longitude Act of 1714 promising a prize of 20,000 GBP to the person who developed a means of determining longitude. The Act required accuracy to with half a degree of longitude. A deviation of two-thirds would be rewarded with £15,000, and one degree with £10,000.
The self-taught horologist John Harrison recognised that accurately knowing the time was the secret and he finally developed a chronometer in 1761 that achieved this but had to battle with the government until 1773, when he was 80 years old, to get his money. In order to achieve this precise timekeeping was required. With the necessity of building precise clocks for maritime use, makers at the end of the seventeenth century were able to make clocks that were reasonably accurate. The English in particular made great strives in the early eighteenth century to make ever more accurate clocks.
The French though were not far behind and by 1750 had caught up with the English.
The most famous French maker is undoubtedly Abraham-Louis Breguet but the English efforts had created the basis of their success.
In the mid nineteenth century, the best clock and watch makers were based in London, with names such as East, Fromanteel, Graham, Knibb, Quare, and Tompion.
At this high-point though there was also a threat for this labour intensive craft.
From the mid nineteenth century both English and French makers faced stiff competition from cheaper mass produced products from Germany, the United States, and Switzerland.
Bottom right: Walnut longcase clock by Joan klock, Amsterdam, made between 1680-1700. OIL AND FIRE CLOCKS
Burning substances in order to measure time is a very old principle.
The simplest form is the marked candle which indicates the passage of time as the candle burns down. Central European tin founders made lots of calibrated
146
oil clocks with transparent or partially transparent oil tanks. A scale indicates the burning time of the oil. Such oil clocks served simultaneously as night-lights and simple timepieces but they should not be confused with clocks which had night-lights to illuminate their dials.
Types of clocks
LANTERN CLOCKS
Lantern clocks are among the earliest examples of balance wheel or foliot escapement. From the fourteenth through to the sixteenth century, the early lantern clocks were housed in Gothic style metal cases.
All manner of wall mounted clocks were developed from these simple lantern clocks. Wood and ceramics were also used to make the clock case and the mechanisms also varied. Most were spring or weight driven from the seventeenth century.
LONGCASE CLOCKS
Soon after the development of the pendulum clock the English introduced the longcase clock, designed to protect the pendulum. The first longcase clocks had short pendulums but following the development of the anchor escapement they were able to use longer, second-beating pendulums.
Early longcase clocks were designed along classical lines often incorporating a tympanum and Corinthian capitals. This was quickly reduced to two pilasters that were sometimes turned. Early clocks had opening upper cases for winding the clock but as the clocks became taller after 1710 they had a lower door for this purpose. French makers surpassed the English longcase clocks after 1730. The innate conservatism of the English makers held them back.
The adoption of the pendulum in Britain quickly led to the development of bracket clocks as well as longcase clocks.
The cases were made of wood with ebony, walnut, mahogany, and other veneers. Only a few clocks had inlay work but painted examples are more common. Most clocks had eight-day mechanisms. The term ‘bracket clock’ is derived from the wall-mounting bracket that some of these clocks had even though most were made so they could stand on furniture. Most English bracket clocks that found their way abroad were made in London. Provincial clocks were largely for local sale.
MANTELCLOCKS
Mantel clocks are similar to bracket clocks but usually both smaller and with less depth. The first examples dating from around 1750-1760 were made in France. English mantel clocks followed on about ten years later.
The first French mantel clocks were developed from French Regency bracket clocks, coming into being when similar clocks were created in Rococo style without a bracket. It was commonplace to set these clocks on a mantelpiece. It became customary around 1835 to accompany mantel clocks with a pair of matching ornaments. These garniture de cheminee remained popular throughout the nineteenth century. It is easy to distinguish English mantel clocks from French ones. English examples mainly have superb mechanisms and graced studies and libraries.
NOVELTY CLOCKS
It was customary in the seventeenth century to produce novelty clocks with mechanisms that did more than drive the clock itself. The outward appearance of these clocks was of paramount importance and might take any form from a crucifix with Madonna or animals and even slaves.
CARRIAGE CLOCKS
With the improvements in clock technology it was possible by the early sixteenth century to make clocks that could be taken on journeys.
The mechanisms were more precise to allow for the disturbance of motion and the first travelling clocks were like large watches of 70-140 mm (23/4-51/2in) and were known as carriage clocks.
The greatest impulse to the development of portable timepieces was the demand for chronometers that permitted the establishment of longitude. English clock-makers succeeded in creating chronometers that were not affected by the sea’s motion The mechanism was mounted in a rectangular casing with the balance and motion unusually situated at the top of the mechanism instead of the rear. Most of these clocks had metal casings with glazed side panels and a small handle at the top.
WATCHES
When the mainspring was developed around 1500 this quickly led to the invention of the first watch. These small portable clocks were worn on a cord around the neck. The casings were generally of very luxurious and fine style with the main function of these watches being decorative.
Silver, gold, or gilded watches were engraved and from 1630 onwards were also decorated with polychrome enamel. These watches were not very reliable until the development in 1670 of the balance wheel. After this date the watch’s function became more important in its design. Minute hands were added and dials with the hours marked in figures became more prominent.
century pocket-watches were generally devoid of expensive enamel decoration and their metal cases were plain metal that was sometimes embossed or engraved. Enamel’s place was sometimes taken by cheaper painted horn.
The invention by Thomas Mudge in 1755 of the anchor escapement was very important to the development of the watch and made them much more accurate. Although this invention was ignored for almost 80 years it replaced virtually every other type of movement in the period 1830-1850 and has been used in virtually every mechanical watch mechanism since.
Abraham-Louis Breguet is regarded as the spiritual father of the modern watch with his invention of a mechanism that counteracts the detrimental effect on accuracy of wearing of a watch.
UNUSUAL MECHANISMS
Clockwork can of course be used to drive other mechanisms such as striking or chiming mechanisms to signal the hour and parts of the hour. Some clocks have chiming mechanisms that can play one or more pieces of music. Alarm clocks also have a striking mechanism of course and other functions found include indication of the date and the phases of the moon. Some clockwork mechanisms even have a solely astronomical function, incorporating a complete planetarium and universe.
WRIST WATCHES
Wrist watches date from around 1865 when the first ladies’ bracelets incorporating a watch were made. Almost no men’s watches were made before World War I and the rise of the wrist watch coincided with Switzerland gaining a leading position as watch and clock-makers.
ELECTRIC CLOCKS
Alexander Bain is regarded as the person who invented electric clocks. He acquired a patent in Britain in 1841 that incorporates virtually all the principles on which subsequent electric clocks were based.
One of these is the use of electromagnets to operate clocks. Many electric clocks still use the ever reliable pendulum. Subsequent electric clocks incorporated a means of winding up a spring.
Mass production
DThe Americans were the first to take the steps necessary to mass produce clocks. A flood of inexpensive clocks were exported to Europe in the 1840s, resulting in the demise of the English clock-makers. In continental Europe though makers managed to survive in southern Germany and Switzerland by switching to mass production.
The Swiss led the watch industry until the 1960s when the Japanese flooded the world market with cheap watches.
IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF CLOCKS
3000 BC: first sundial in Sumaria
1300 BC: first reports of water driven timepieces in Egypt
1500: first wheel escapement mechanisms. The first town halls and churches were equipped with clocks that struck the hour.
1300-1350: Metal clocks become increasingly in vogue in prosperous homes.
1425: first modern sundial with upright parallel to the earth’s, axis (Germany). 1450: first spring driven clocks originating from Flanders and/or Burgundy.
I 500:Details such as fusees, striking mechanisms, and porticos were in wide use
1500-1550: Development in Nuremberg of clock mechanisms with the possible invention of features such as asymmetric spinning ’spoons’ to correct inertia. 1657-1658: discovery of the pendulum by Christiaan Huygens
1670: invention of the anchor escapement by William Clement.
1755: development of the balance wheel by Thomas Mudge
1800: Abraham-Louis Breguet develops a number of improvements for watches. 1841: Alexander Bain is awarded a patent for an electric clock mechanism.