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William Lassell Liverpool 1758-1790 Longcase Clock

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 1,000.00 USD
William Lassell Liverpool 1758-1790 Longcase Clock
For your consideration is an 18th Century English Georgian Mahogany Longcase Clock by William Lassell, Toxteth Park, Liverpool, circa 1758-1790. A longcase clock, also tall-case clock, floor clock, or grandfather clock, is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are commonly 1.8–2.4 metres (6–8 feet) tall. The case often features elaborately carved ornamentation on the hood (or bonnet), which surrounds and frames the dial, or clock face. William Lassell, based in the Toxteth Park area of Liverpool, learned his skills from his father, Thurston, who died in 1758 and worked until the 1790s and longcase clocks are known by William too. Some clocks, however, are signed simply 'Lassell - Park', as an abbreviation for Toxteth Park, and these could be by father or son. An oddity of construction of some Lassell clocks is that the movement pillars are screwed into the backplates, instead of being rivetted in the usual way. Traditionally, longcase clocks were made with two types of movement: eight-day and one-day (30-hour) movements. A clock with an eight-day movement required winding only once a week, while generally less expensive 30-hour clocks had to be wound every day. Eight-day clocks are often driven by two weights – one driving the pendulum and the other the striking mechanism, which usually consisted of a bell or chimes. Such movements usually have two keyholes, one on each side of the dial to wind each one. By contrast, 30-hour clocks often had a single weight to drive both the timekeeping and striking mechanisms. Some 30-hour clocks were made with false keyholes, for customers who wished that guests to their home would think that the household was able to afford the more expensive eight-day clock. This longcase has a broken arch dial, a bronzed chapter ring with Roman hours and Arabic minutes signed 'Lassel Park', framing a matted centre with recessed subsidiary seconds dial and date aperture, centred by an engraved sunburst, over engraved foliate scrollwork, all within mask-centred cast spandrels. The case is surmounted by an eagle finial over a broken-arched pediment, on turned fluted columns with gilt capitals, the shaped long trunk door, of good figure, on a canted panelled base and ogee bracket feet. Rectangular longcase is nicely preserved with a rich patina observed throughout. Measures 87"H x 20"W x 10.25"D approximately.
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