A History of Longcase Clock Cases

Courtesy of Clock Work Shop, Winchester.

Wooden clock cases first started appearing in England around 1658 their style was based on the work of the work of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. The style of his architecture was known as Palladianism and was particualy in vogue in England at this time. The clock cases took the form of a classic portico or doorway, surmounted by a pediment and flanked by columns or pilasters.

During these formative years the clock cases comprised of an oak carcase veneered with ebony (sometimes pearwood stained black) that would then be polished with shellac-varnish, and to contrast the polished black surface fire gilt brass mounts and capitals were used.

After the ebony case, the longcase of weight driven clocks began to be veneered with either walnut or olive wood, possibly for the reason that some people liked their grand father clock to match their furniture.

By 1675 the architectural ebony cases had gone out of fashion and walnut closely followed by olivewood were the order of the day. The simple architectural hoods had been superseded by features like barley twist pillars either side of the hood door, and carved pediments fixed above the cornice.

Paneled trunk doors and base panels were now flat and being veneered in a figured or burr walnut that was often book matched or even quarter matched to great effect. At this time also marquetry was becoming very popular, cases being adorned with panels of marquetry on the trunk door and base.

The marquetry was generally of clever and detailed designs of birds and flowers. The oval or circular marquetry panels usually consisted of a walnut or ebony background and then the main woods used for the marquetry were boxwood, holly, sycamore and plane tree with ivory and bone stained green being used to depict the leaves.



Courtesy of Clock Work Shop, Winchester.

Another type of decoration popular at this time was parquetry which consisted of simple geometric shapes such as a star or sunburst being inlayed into a background of oyster pieces. These oyster pieces were made by cutting a laburnum or olive tree sapling at 45 degrees to produce an oval veneer.

You would also find oyster veneered longcases with panels of marquetry usually three in the trunk door and one in the base and, as the seventeenth century came to a close the marquetry became more profuse spreading over the entire surface and even around the hood door and sometimes even the pillars . The final development of the marquetry was known as seaweed or arabesque and this was when it became finer still to the point where it was a mass of scrolls in a geometric pattern.

During the reign of Queen Anne and into George 1 reign tastes changed completely and figured walnut and Japan cases became the fashion. The Japan or lacquer work remained popular until the middle of the century, and then had a revival at the end of the eighteenth century.



Courtesy of Clock Work Shop, Winchester.

The next big thing in the longcase clocks history was the introduction of mahogany it was imported and used mainly on furniture from the 1720s. But started to be used on clocks from around the 1740s. The mahogany came from different islands off the west coast of America including the West Indies, Cuba, San Domingo and Honduras.

The timber varied in colour and density and grain patterns from island to island, and were named according to which island they came from. For instance Cuban mahogany came from cuba and I might point out that Spanish mahogany came from the Spanish West Indies and not Spain. The highly figured mahogany you see on the door and base of long case clocks is known as flame or curl.

It came from the part of the tree where the main trunk splits into two, or where large branches met and was quite scarce and therefore used accordingly. It was always used in veneer form rather than solid, firstly because of its rarity and expense, and secondly because it was fairly unstable wanting to move about in every direction, and was therefore veneered onto a solid piece of oak or plain mahogany.

As the eighteenth century progressed Honduras mahogany took over as the main type used, and was particulary liked by cabinet makers for its stunning flame veneers, by this time around 1770 walnut had been almost completely replaced.

Mahogany along with oak were the main woods used into the nineteenth century, the cases after the regency period became quite heavy, and ugly looking with the quality decreasing rapidly, as mass production techniques became ever more common.

The history of the longcase clock is very interesting, and I am always available to discuss any matter in realtion to my work.

Please do get in touch to discuss any of your restoration project needs.

 
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Antique Furniture Restoration:

- French Polishing
- Stain Removal
- Veneering
- Carving & Turning
- Marquetry & Inlay Work
- Cabinet Making

Antique Clock Restoration:

- French Polishing
- Stain Removal
- Veneering
- Carving & Turning
- Marquetry & Inlay Work
- Cabinet Making

Contact Details:

Scott Bennett Antique Furniture & Clock Case Restoration.
Woodstock,
Oxfordshire
Email: scottbennett4242@gmail.com
Website: www.sbantiquerestoration.co.uk
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