Longcase clock
William Younge
Category
Horology
Date
1675
Materials
Oak, walnut, brass, steel and glass
Measurements
1930 x 440 x 240 mm
Place of origin
Charing Cross
Collection
Washington Old Hall, Tyne and Wear
NT 591576
Summary
Eight day, hour striking longcase clock in floral marquetry case, signed by William Younge, London, circa 1680/1830. 2-train, 4-pillar movement with anchor escapement and rack hour-striking on bell. The movement has painted, brass-cased lead weights. 10” (25 cm) square brass dial with cherub & scroll spandrels and chapter ring with roman hour numerals, fleur-de-lis half hour markers, arabic five-minute figures and signed: “Wm Younge, near Charing Cross” at VI o’clock. In the (now plain) brass dial centre is a seconds dial, with arabic five seconds figures, below XII o’clock. There are three plugged winding holes and one plugged square calendar aperture in the dial centre, and there is a cutaway slot in the edge at the top of the dial, near the centre, marked: “S – N” for silencing the striking (no longer functional). Pierced blued steel hands. The case has an oak carcass veneered with floral marquetry panels over the front, and the sides with veneered with walnut and rectangular panels outlined with (?) boxwood stringing and containing (?) olivewood oyster veneers. The flat top hood has a scrolling fret below and is flanked with ebonised twisted columns with glazed windows to the sides. On either side of the lower part of the hood is a hole through the side, probably where a pull-repeating cord was situated to trigger the quarter striking on the original movement. The rear vertical edges of the hood are grooved on the inside where the hood was originally rising, and the oak backboard of the case has holes where the sprung catch would have been to hold it up when risen. The current hood door, which has brass hinges applied on the outside of the hood on the right hand side, has been cut from the front of the hood, which was originally solid at the front. The door is now held closed with a hook on the left hand side. There is a hole on the inside of the lower front hood rail, where a spoon locking would have held the hood locked when the trunk door was closed. The trunk door has an oval pendulum lenticle for displaying the long pendulum in motion. The convex trunk and base mouldings have ebonised trimming and the base has an ebonised skirting. Presented in July 1981 by Mrs S M Pettit in memory of G F Pettit (1915 - 1981). Note. The dial was originally fitted with a three-train quarter-striking movement with calendar by Younge. It probably had this movement, made c.1830, fitted to it when the older movement was considered as worn out. The current movement appears to have been made for it. The case might have survived as Younge’s original – it is of the correct period for the dial. The spandrels on the dial are replacements of another, smaller type. The clock is currently being driven on the timekeeping side with a modern, lighter lead weight, to reduce the wear on the movement.
Marks and inscriptions
Wm Younge by Charing Cross (signed)
Makers and roles
William Younge, horologist