The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-18
CLOCKS COLLECTORS SEEK.
MARKS THAT DETERMINE WHAT
~ WORTH HAVING.

~ WORTH HAVING.
EARLY English nlrdcage or Lantern Clocks
-rhs Grandfather Cleck 0r England
snd America willard banjo" Con
nectlcut Clocks with WOode works.
The very early house clocks. which are the
kind in which ordinary collectors are chiefly
interested. were called birdcage or lantern
clocks. There were some of them very
small, -four or five inches high. hat could be
hung on the bedpost. which was where
Catherine Of Brasanza had hers and where
Pepys saw L.. He says in his diary ue8il.
81" " . and her holy water at her head as
she sleeps. with a clock at her beds side
wherein a lamp burns and tells her the time
Of night at any time
The frat record Of a clock in the Massa-
chusetts colony was in 1928. Lechford mem
lions in his notebook for that, year that Jo-
seph Stratton had Of his brother a clock and
q watch. In 1910 Henry Parks OF Hart
ford left a clock by will to the church.
These lantern clocks nave a square body
and q dome top, and the dial often is so
large that it extends beyond the sides Of the
body. The weights extend below the
works on W chains. but in some Of the
specimens found in this country the chains
nave been shortened and the works altered.
h date OF these clocks can be told with
some degree Of accuracy by the style Of
fret or brass ornament in front of the
dome. The earliest and a favorite pat
tern for years has two dolphins with crossed
tails and Is called the dolphin fret.
II was said to have originated with
Thnrnaa Tosansnp 81 Tnnlan fanaaias
clockmaker who lived during the last half
Of the seventeenth century and died in i7ls.
He was called tho father Of English clock
making and has left a more enduring fame
than any of his contemporaries, and Incl
dentally more clocks.
Next to Tompion the two most famous
watchmakers OF this time were Daniel
Quare, who succeeded Tompion and died
in lips, and George Graham. who followed
Quare and died in 1875. 1t is a curious
fact that they all belonged TO the Society
Of Friends.
Besides the dolphin fret there were other
patterns, the heraldic fret following the
dolphin. This was a coat of arms with
scroll work on either side. This design
was not used till 1850. so any clocks bearing
this design are after that date.
Bracket clocks, that is. short clocks made
to stand on a shelf or bracket, were also
early patterns, and there are many Of them
in this country, one very fine one being
sheltered at White Plains, ". Y, where it
has been in the owners family for more
than a century and a half, and IL still keeps
excellent time.
Indeed there are probably more OF these
old clocks tucked away than people sup
pose. Many OF the modern ~clookmakers
cannot repair them, modern clocks are
cheap and there has been such q tendency
to tuck away old things that the old clock
went too.
The bracket clocks were followed by
long case or grandfather clocks, and there
are many admirable specimens Of the latter
70 be found here.
To the best English clocks it was usual
TO apply either the gridiIon pendulum Of
Harrison or GPaham's mercurial pendu-
lum. A good fact TO bear in mind is
that the length of the pendulum in most
long case clocks made before 1900 was
80 inches, that is, after the long pendulum
came into use at all. The first pendulums
we're called bob %pendulums because they
swung so far TO the aside hat IL was necessary
to cut Sits in the side Of the case TO allow
them to swing free. Many clocks which
started with bob pendulums were later
supplied with long pendulums, which came
into use about the year 1880.
TomIion and William Clement were
both making long case clocks by I8sO-sl,
and these clocks have pecul arities which
are plainly marked. In the first place. the
dials were square, and the wooden hood
which covered dial and works had to be
lifted of to perm il the clock to be wound.
Now. a word as to these early dials. The
first things to be observed are the hour
circles. Before the minute hand came into
use the double circles seen on the mantel
clocks were in use. Between them the hours
are divided into quarters. the half hour
being shown by an extra like a
dagger or a ieur de lys.
After the ninute hand was added. besides
the double circles showing the numerals
denoting the hours and the smaller figures
showing the minutes there were mark on
the outer edge OF the larger circle showing
the quarters. The dials OF the period Of
William III. and Of Queen Anne were en-
riched by beautiful engraving, and the
metal was not only brass. but silver as
well, and there were ornaments OF ormolu
in the form of figures n scrolls.
Not a scrap Of the face was left undeco-
rated. On the extreme edge was placed
a border of leaves or a herringbone pattern.
The whole interior OF the hour circle was
filed with flowers, scrolls or set patterns.
either engraved or etched, and about the
winding holes were extra circles and
wreaths.
The earliest seventeenth century clocks
had the names of the makers put on in attn.
and set straight across the bottom OF the
dial. The next period showed the maker
nane placed across the lower part Of the dial
face between the figures V and VII.
1t is safe to say that these two methods
OF marking were prior TO 1850, for at that
time name plates began to be used, and max
ers consulted their own taste in the matter,
sometimes entirely emitting their names and
substituting a motto, like Temp NJ FuOit,
or even couplets like;
Slow comes the hour; les passing speed how
great;
Waiting to seize it, vigilantly waltz
The cases. as well as the faces. had peculi-
n