The Old English Master Clockmakers and Their Clocks - 1679-1820

By Herbert Cescinsky

Book Overview

Between the Restoration and the Regency, a small number of English workshops turned the measuring of hours into a fine art. Herbert Cescinsky's 1938 survey is the collector's guide to the men and the movements.

Cescinsky (born 1875) spent his working life among English furniture and English timepieces, and had already written the standard reference on the subject with Malcolm R. Webster, English Domestic Clocks. First published by George Routledge & Sons, The Old English Master Clockmakers and Their Clocks boils that earlier work down to what matters most to a collector: the men who signed the movements, and the pieces that carry their names.

He follows the trade from the coming of the pendulum, through the brass lantern clock and the rise of the tall case, to the dials and engraving that let a piece be placed and dated. Thomas Tompion, George Graham and Daniel Quare are all here, alongside the London and provincial makers who worked in their shadow. Photographs of surviving examples run throughout, and the writing stays practical - what to look at, and what it tells you.

This edition features:

Cescinsky's 1938 survey of the English trade at its height, from the Restoration to the RegencyCoverage of the pendulum, escapements, the lantern clock, dials and the growth of the tall caseThomas Tompion, George Graham, Daniel Quare and the other celebrated London namesPhotographs of surviving movements, dials and cases throughoutA working reference for collectors, dealers and anyone cataloguing period English timepieces

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1445510944
• ISBN13: 9781445510941
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Qureshi Press
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"