Marquetry Grandfather Clock - 1685

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Marquetry grandfather clock

Another of my projects from LJs.  This was the third long case clock I made back in 2006/7 just after I retired to Western Australia.  But of more significance it was my very first dabble at any marquetry!!  The case is based on a classic Georgian Marquetry longcase clock by William Grimes, made in London in 1685. It is now on display at Lyme Park near Stockport in the UK.  if you are into clocks its worth a visit just for them!!  However, the detail of the marquetry panels is based on designs from a different clock case. The 'caddy top' and brass ball mounts are additional to the original Grimes case, but are in keeping with the period.

The working design is taken from drawings in the book 'Wooden Clock Cases' by David Bryant published in 1994. David had access to the Lyme Park collection, so his working drawings and construction details are exceptional.  Its an excellent book if you like making antique clocks.



The clock has four marquetry panels - three on the door and one on the base.  Notice how 'crude' the marquetry is - there is no 'layering' to the deisgn with leaves, branches and flowers in a space of their own.



This isn't because it was my first attempt, but is faithful to the marquetry at the time.




Having made the clock, I vowed I would never do marquetry again, way too fiddly  and time consuming ................ but as some of you will know, this wasn't to be the case!   

Any how I stack cut the flowers on a jig saw. They were done over size, and with the usual interchanging of parts and flipping some over,  I got quite a few variations from just one cutting.   The flowers were then let into the back ground using 'bevel' cutting with a hand held fret saw.  Long, long before I had discoverd Chevalats - thanks Paul!!


The clock case is made from solid Tasmainian oak, trimmed in solid walnut, book matched burl walnut veneer, and plain walnut veneer with box wood stringing.



The hood is a traditional lift-up one, which slides up on the back-board.  Many antique ones have been modified over the years to have a hinged dial door which opens to the left or right. This enables these clocks to fit into a 'modern' house that doesn't have the high ceilings of the Grand Manor houses where they were originally used.  Fortunatly our hall does have a high ceiling so I could stick to tradition.





Not being into turning I got the barley sugar twists and the door lenticel turned by a friend.  The frets in the hood, to let out the sound of the chimes were cut with a fret saw.

II had expected to finish the clock before I migrated to Western Australia in 2006, so had the dial made with my UK South Yorkshire home village of Anston together with my name engraved on the bottom.  Dials traditional displayed the name of the movement maker and their home town.  The case would hav ebeen made by someone else. 'Facite' is latin for Makes, so the engraving translates to 'Made by Martin Burgoyne in Anston".   


Alas the black tape covers my name on the pictures below as it was taken prior to its entry in our local Woodworking competition.



The amazing period dial is made by John Skeavington, of Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, who was one of the very few remaining dial makers left in England. He made several dials for me over the years.  I made the traditional pattern steel pierced and blued hands.
The movement, the best I could get, is a Kieninger KSU55 - weight driven, with triple chime on 9 bells, and automatic night silence.
As we have four chiming clocks in our house, night silence was a must!!  It's not quite in keeping with such a period clock which would just have chimed on a single bell, but it sounds amazing!!






25 Comments

👍,🦆....

So finally revealed,


That's what a grandfather clock looks like!

If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD

That is a beautiful clock, or I should say a piece of art. Amazing craftsmanship.

Main Street to the Mountains

Gorgeous work Martin! For a first marquetry project even more special. 👍👍👌👌👌

I’m struck by the difference between this and it’s contemporary marquetry in France. This was the era of Andre Charles Boulle and extreme detail and complexity were the order of the day in the court of Louis XIV.
By Chippendale’s time a hundred years later french marqueteurs (ébénistes) were regularly employed in England and the styles changed dramatically.

Again, history lesson aside, this is just an amazing piece and more than impressive as a first attempt!  ……. and I think I know wherefor I speak….. 😉

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Yes Paul I totally agree.  When I checked and re-wrote the piece this morning to put the post here, I did think it odd about the quality of the marquetry.  But when I originally wrote the piece way back I didn't know much about marquetry.  So I checked the images I used for the designs and yes they are simplistic - see below.  While the flowers are detailed enough, the layering is missing.  May be an apprentice made the clock.

Here's a couple more from a clock by Fromateel - a highly thought of clock maker, though of course he didn't make the case.  It shows the same simplistic designs.


And some more panels below from different clocks .  What is interesting is that some of the flowers and birds look very similar on different clocks.  So may be they were batch made, bought in by the case maker as a complete set of panels, or may be just as flowers and brids etc. that they the let into their cases.  I'll guessing that these clock case makers weren't the same people who made the larger pieces of exceptionally fine marquetry furniture.



I think it was just that with the patronage of the Sun King French marqueteurs had more incentive and more to gain financially and were simply more advanced because of that.

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

To say the clock is beautiful is an understatement for sure, magnificent craftsmanship 👍

Life’s Good, Enjoy Each New Day’s Blessings

Madburg, your clock is a work of art.

Congratulations on an incredible job well done.


Petey

Thanks guys.  I started off my retirement woodworking making clock - long case, wall, and bracket clocks.  I'll have to shift some more across from LJ's.  
Beautiful clock and love all the details of the marquetry, dial and movement.     Like the movement with the automatic night silence.    Is the time it is silent adjustable?

Ron

Priceless!

Knowing how to use a tool is more important than the tool in and of itself. - Ron Aylor

Madburg,

You are one patient fellow!!  Great build.

daveg, SW Washington & AZ

dont know what to even  say that has't been, it's an incredible art work.

working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

this is one very beautiful clock wonderful GR8 JOB 😍😎👍

*TONY ** Reinholds* ALWAYS REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN

I'm delighted..... Bravo..... Thank you...........

Sasha. - Life is not a draft, you can't redo it tomorrow

Pure art! A person could plan all their retirement years just building that, simply amazing.
We can't figure out why you would take on such a tiny, simple project for your first attempt at marquetry. ;-)  
Wonderfully complex and beautifully executed!
L/W


“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

The wife was walking by just now, said - who is that?  I said, oh, that is Martin, the guy who has been helping me out some.  She said, did He make that?  Yeppers, I said.  Wow, she said, that is really beautiful.  Yeppers, I said.

No Bees. No Honey. Bees Lives Matter

That is amazingly beautiful... Great work !
Thanks again for all your comments.  It makes posting worthwhile! Ron - the night silence isn't adjustable - well not without some major surgery on the mechanism.  Last strike is10.00pm, first strike 7.15am - then every 15mins. You can turn it off completely, or just have it striking on the hour.   Which is necessary as across from my left shoulder in the first picture is our bedroom door!  The 7.15am chime is a bit like an alarm clock!! 
Could not be any nicer!  IMHO

Albert