Sep
27
17th Century Silver and Clocks
September 27, 2009 |
Colonial silver
Early American silver shows all the influence of the immigrants’ mother
countries, particularly England and Holland. The first indigenous silver
industry arose between 1634 and 1650 in Boston and the early styles
reflected those current in London in the years 1629 to 1641. Typical
decorations of mid-17th century colonial silver include matting, beading
and foliate-chased stems. Lacking hallmarks this early silver needs a
detailed analysis of style to be dated correctly.
Probably the first silversmith in Boston was John Hull (1624-83), but
it was Robert Sanderson (1608-93) who was responsible for establishing
the Boston silver industry. Hull and Sanderson had opened a standard
Mint in Boston by 1652 where they produced the well-known pine and
oaktree shillings and sixpences. The first presentation church silver by
these two smiths was produced in 1659 and are important examples of
early colonial style displaying real craftsmanship. Collectable silver
from this period includes the silver spoons produced by John Hull and
John Coney (1655-1722), which have oval bowls and handles that are
either trend-shaped or straight and rectangular with initials engraved
on the underside.
The first metalrolling machine appeared in 1692, which meant that
silver could now be rolled from ingots. Since this invention reduced the
time needed to fashion a piece of silver, prices fell and demand rose. The
arrival of the metalrolling machine also gave impetus to a form of
decoration known as cut-card work, which had been known in England
since at least the middle of the century. The early technique consisted of
soldering cut-out patterns, often leaves or strapwork, to plain surfaces.
A later development involved the use of several leaves instead of a single
one, whilst towards the end of the 17th century the decoration was
applied in more than one layer.
Until the turn of the 16th century clockmaking in England had not been
widespread. At the beginning of the 17th century there emerged the
characteristic English lantern clock. Made of brass, it was weight
driven, with a verge and balance foliot rather than a bar foliot. This was
to remain virtually unchanged until about 1660 when the latter was
slowly replaced by the short pendulum.
Ajdevelopment of the Joseph Zech clock of the 15th century was the
square or hexagonal table clocks which were becoming common in the
firsiklecades of the 17th century. Like the drum-type clock this clock
had the dial uppermost, but it also had a striking mechanism. Made in
brass gilt with silver chapter rings, the square clocks usually stood on
foulrifeet and the hexagonal ones on three, the feet tend to be claw-shaped
and the hammers often appear in the form of grotesque animal heads.
Jother clock popular in the early 17th century was the miniature
ir or tabernacle clock. These were similar to the lantern clock except
I they have a spring-barrel, fusee and gut instead of a pulley, wheel
ope. 17th century examples have brass wheels instead of the earlier
stewones.
The introduction of the use of the pendulum revolutionized clock-
making. The first practical application was to a clock made in Holland
by Salomon Coster in 1657 to designs by Christian Huygens. It was now
possible to achieve a far higher standard of timekeeping. Portable spring-
driven clocks made by Coster at this time were enclosed in wooden cases,
the dials covered in velvet upon which a gilded or silvered chapter
jrominently appeared. France adopted a similar style, while clocks
this device were introduced into England during 1658 by the
lantccl family.
first English bracket clocks also date from 1658 and were only
in and around London for the first 25 years or so. Architectural-
>racket clocks were popular from 1660-75 and the earliest examples
had either plain matted dials, or dials engraved with tulip flowers. The
mak r’s name was engraved on the dial plate below the chapter ring.
Bracket clocks often had alarum devices and sometimes a calendar
aper urc. From 1670 a different kind of case appeared with a handle on
top and the pediment gradually gave way to a dome-shaped top.
An unusual form of bracket clock which first appeared not long after
the invention of the pendulum was the ‘night clock’. It had no hands
having instead a revolving dial with the numbers carved through it:
a light placed inside the clock enabled the numbers to be read at night.
The introduction of the spring-driven pendulum clock into England
heralded the Golden Age for English clockmakers. The main factors
contributing to this being the upsurge of awakened interest in the new
ideas and concepts carried back to England by Charles II, returning
from his exile on the Continent, combined with the many advances made
in the field of mathematics which enabled further technological progress
Left: Longcase clock, John Knibb,
Oxford, c.1680; right: longcase clock,
Thomas Tampion. London, c.1685.
Clocks
and the masterly skills of such clockmakers as Edward East, Daniel
Quare, Joseph Knibb and George Graham.
Thomas Tompion was one of the greatest clockmakers of all time.
Born at Northill in Bedfordshire he was admitted to the Clockmakers’
Company in 1671. In 1676 he was commissioned to make the two main
clocks for the Octagon Room at the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
In 1671 William Clements produced a clock with a new escapement -
the anchor or recoil escapement. It is generally accepted that its invention
should be accredited to Dr Robert Hooke( 1635-1703). With this escape-
ment the short bob pendulum, as used with the verge escapement, could
be abandoned and a longer pendulum with a heavier bob could be
introduced. The weights of the weight-driven pendulum clocks were by
now encased in a slender wooden trunk, standing upon a wooden plinth
so it needed but a slight modification to make the trunk sufficiently wide
to accommodate the arc of the swing of the long seconds pendulum.
This combination of anchor escapement and seconds pendulum became
and remained the standard design for English longcase or coffin clocks
as they were initially called.
Bracket clock dftdmovement, Joseph
Knibb, London]Al670-75.
Bracket clock, fohn Fromanleel, London,
About the turn of the century case styles altered dramatically. The drum
shape favoured by the Germans gave way to the oval, round, square and
more exotic form cases such as stars, crosses, shells, flowers and birds.
Casemaking had now become the task of the lapidist, enameller and a
little later the gold and silversmiths. Apart from the cloisonne and
champleve work already seen on dials and cases, there now appeared
other forms of enamelwork. Beautiful examples can be seen with scenes
painted in enamel. It is generally acknowledged that the fine enamel
work of this period was never surpassed.
This type of enamel painting, in which pictures are painted in colours
using metallic oxides on a white background enamel, seems to have been
originated by Jean Toutin (1578-1644) of Chateaudun in France. It is
not known how or when enamel painting began in Geneva. Jean Petitot
(1607-91) acquired a wide reputation there (even as discoverer of the
method) but this may have been due more to his renown as a miniature
enamel painter. While the origins of the industry in Geneva are obscure,
it was the Huaud family who raised Geneva to the level of Blois. Pierre
I luaud (b. 1612) painted his first watches around mid-century and passed
the craft on to his three sons. A characteristic of Huaud watches is
enamelling on the dial as well as on the bottom of the case.
Tile relatively fragile enamelled eases necessitated some form of pro-
tection. Originally made of stiffened leather, by mid-century these outer
cases were of metal covered with leather, shagreen, tortoiseshcll and
often decorated with pique work. Perversely the inner case became
plainer with the outer case receiving more attention. Although there
continued to be made some highly decorative cases, towards the middle
oft he century there was introduced in England a simple watch with both
outer and inner silver cases completely devoid of any form of embellish-
ment. This innovation is generally attributed to firstly the Puritan
influence and then to the introduction of the pocketed waistcoat.
Tlie lead in the field of watchmaking had initially been held by the
German makers, but at a time when watches were regarded not as serious
timekeepers but merely beautiful baubles, the French with their natural
flair Iftr artistic work rapidly overtook and passed them. The English
makers, although somewhat tardy in the 16th century, were to dominate
in the 17th with what in modern parlance would be described as a tech-
nical breakthrough. This was the successful application of the balance
spring to a watch by Thomas Tompion in 1675. There are several
claimants to the invention of this device, but in this particular watch by
Tompion tribute is paid to Robert Hooke as the inventor. Although the
use of a balance spring did not solve all the problems that needed to be
overcome before the watch became a precision timekeeper it most
certainly did change its role. Cases became much plainer and simpler:
Verge escapement mechanism for a watch.
The horizontal wheel is the balance, the
lower, toothed one, the escape wheel.