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Tall Case Clock

Dateca. 1690

Maker William Cattell

OriginEngland, London

MediumOak (Quercus spp.), European walnut (Juglans regia), Ebony (Diospyros spp), European holly (llex aquifolium), padauk or rosewood, possibly maple, deal (Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Spruce (Picaea spp), and glass; brass, steel, iron

DimensionsCase: OH: 74”; OW: 16 3/8”; OD: 9 ¼” Pendulum: OL 42 1/2"; diam: 3.2"; depth: 1.1" weights: OH: 8 1/2"; diam: 2 3/8"

Credit LineGift of Richard A. Mones M.D.

Object number2021-3,A-E

DescriptionWalnut veneered tall case clock with flat-topped hood with molded cornice with ebonized moldings above a red silk backed pierced ebonized fret on the front of the hood over a square glazed door flanked by spiral turned columns with ebonized capitals and bases; rectangular glazed windows on hood sides with spiral turned columns at rear of hood; hood door veneered in floral marquetry on ebonized background; trunk with rectangular trunk door, ebonized on molded edge with central oval glass lentical with ebonized molding and three reserves of marquetry outlined in lightwood stringing with floral examples on ebonized background at top and bottom and a figural scene in oval in center; large bird in center of top floral marquetry panel; sides of trunk with walnut crossbanding around two rectangular lightwood string outlined walnut veneer panels; waist molding with upper cavetto molding ebonized over base with figural marquetry hunting scene with hunters, horse, and dogs; over flattened ball feet (replaced).

two brass sheathed weights and brass bob pendulum.

Dial:
One piece, brass, 10” W x 9 13/16” H x .088” thick dial. Center of dial is matte finished. Corners of dial are highly polished and contain cast cherub face foliate spandrels. Silvered chapter ring has Roman hours on the inside and Arabic minutes in 5 minute intervals on the outside with marks indicating all 60 minutes between the minute numbers. Silvered Arabic seconds dial above center. Silvered Arabic calendar in square aperture below center. Dial signed “Wm Cattell London” in cursive spanning the VI.

Movement description:
Eight-day brass time, strike, and calendar weight-driven movement measuring 7 1/16” H x 5 1/2” W. Plate thickness is 0.140” and clearance between front and back plates is 2.32”. Clock has an anchor-recoil escapement regulated by a seconds beat pendulum. A count wheel strike sounds the hours on a 4.1” diameter cast iron bell. The strike hammer head is pyramidal in shape. A 2.5” diameter cast iron nested inner bell is struck by a hammer with a pyramidal head once every half hour.

Four brass pillars are riveted into the back plate and pinned at the front plate. The movement is fastened to the seat board by steel screws threaded into the bottom pillars. The brass time and strike barrels are grooved for the weight cords. All time and strike train wheels have four-arm crossings. The motion work is solid. The round steel crutch-rod has a closed-end fork. The pendulum bridge base has rounded feet with notches at the upper right for strike fan pivot clearance and at the upper left to be symmetrical. It is fastened to the back plate with two screws and two locator pins. The main bell stand is screwed to the outside of the back plate and passes underneath the pendulum bridge. The bell stand for the half hour bell is mounted to the outside of the front plate.

The weight pulleys are cast brass with riveted stirrups. The overall length of the pendulum is 42 11/16”. The pendulum rod is .104” diameter steel. The bob is cast iron with a brass face. It is 3.2” diameter and 1.1” thick. The cylindrical weights are sheet metal wrapped with rounded bases and flat lids. Both weights are 8 ½” tall and 2 3/8” diameter.
Label TextThis early English tall case clock has a case covered in walnut veneer and floral and pictorial marquetry of a type popular in London at the end of the 17th century. The earliest floral marquetry clocks date to the mid-1670s but the design continued for around thirty years. The overall form of the case with its flat top and spiral turned hood columns also conforms to fashionable design of that period.

Marquetry, a technique using various colored veneers to create picture or designs, was a highly specialized skill. Like later inlaid elements, entire panels of marquetry could have been purchased from specialists in London and veneered onto a carcass by the cabinetmaker. This example combines floral marquetry, including a tall water fowl, with pictorial marquetry depicting a hunting scene, an unusual comination.

The eight-day square brass dial movement with two bells is signed by clockmaker William Cattell of London. Cattell apprenticed with clockmaker Edward Stanton from 1667 until 1674 and witnessed his former master’s will in 1688. He was made Free of the Clockmaker’s Company in 1672 and his shop on Fleet Street, London produced both lantern and eight-day clocks. He is believed to have died c.1697. Colonial Williamsburg owns one other clock of this style (1954-995) that is a country interpretation of this London form and style in oak, and a slightly later example with a movement by Thomas Planner( 1990-290) of London with seaweed marquetry covering the entire case.

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