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Page 14 The Antique Shoppe August, 2017
The Grandfather Clock

By Jeff Figler

Have you ever walked into a house and heard majestical musical notes in the background? You ask
yourself where they are coming from. Then you realize that the musical interlude might be coming from
none other than a grandfather clock.
Kind of an unusual name for a clock. Where did they originate? How was the name devised?
People have always searched for ways to keep track of time, and have tried
to improve on methods to accurately keep time. Until the advent of mechanical
clocks in medieval Europe, the methods to track time include sundials,
also called shadow clocks, the hourglass, water powered devices called
clepsydras, and candles.
The first mechanical clocks were developed during the second half of
the 13 century, most likely by European monks. These clocks were made of
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heavy iron frames and gears, and did not have any dials or arms. They were
often placed in the church tower and only struck bells on the hour by using the
existing church bell. Later, an hour hand was added to the mechanical clocks,
and other enhancements were devised allowing the clock to strike every quarter
hour. By the 15 century, small domestic clocks had been made. After the 1630s,
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a weight-driven timepiece called the lantern clock became popular in some
homes of upper class families.
But, it was Galileo who conceived of the major breakthrough in clock making.
In 1582, he discovered that a pendulum could be used to keep time. In 1656, the
Dutch scientist Huygens developed the first pendulum clock. The clock became
the prototype for the modern grandfather clock. The first pendulum clocks,
referred to as “wags-on-the-wall” at the time, had short pendulums and were
hung on a wall. These clocks were often encased in wood, such as grandfather
clocks of today. Clocks devised by the invention of Huygens were so accurate that
often there was only a loss or gain of a few minutes a day.
By 1660, English clockmakers took Huygens’ design
and introduced clocks with 6 feet long cases and ten-inch
pendulums. In 1670, with the use of a pendulum that
was slightly over 39 inches, now called the Royal Pendulum, Robert Hook and
William Clement created the grandfather clock. It measured over 7 feet from
the floor. Handles for the minutes were soon added. Clocks became encased
with glass to show the pendulum and weights. These clocks, now called
grandfather clocks, were called long case clocks, or floor clocks, until the 1880s.
The golden age of long case clocks was between 1630 and 1730, and first
made for royal families and nobles. However, production costs were cut down,
and by 1685 long case clocks were imported into the American colonies.
The term “grandfather clock” for long case or
floor clocks became widespread in England and
America thanks to a song composed by Henry Work
in 1875. Work, an American songwriter, composed
“Grandfather’s Clock”, about an old floor clock that
stood in the lobby of the George Hotel in Piercebridge,
North Yorkshire, England. The name stuck.
There have been many improvements on keeping
time, including ones to pendulums.
However, nothing seems to replace the stately
appearance of a grandfather clock that stands between
6 ½ feet and 8 feet tall. They are an object of beauty,
and an impressive symbol of the passage of time.
Naturally, collectors are aware of how well valued
old grandfather clocks are. The vintage clocks are very collectible. Despite
sometimes the costly shipping charges.
A few examples of auction sales of grandfather clocks include the following.
In 2014, a George II Quarter-Striking Tall Case Clock sold for $17,500.
However, a Tiffany grandfather clock with a 9-bell, Westminster and
Whittington melody, sold for $50,000, while an extremely ornate figural
carved oak 9 Tube grandfather clock sold for $80,000.
So it is very clear that the value of grandfather clocks can run the
spectrum, often depending on how ornate they are.