This free download is a fascinating and wide ranging study that offers many insights into American Tall Case Clock making in the Backcountry of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, in the late 18th Century. This story informs those wanting to know more about antique tall case clocks (also known as longcase clocks, Grandfather clocks, floor clocks); Backcountry Early American furniture; how time was determined; culture and commerce; whether as a student, educator, casual collector or curious clock owner. Photographs in the body and addendum add value for inquisitive researchers. Each page - Splendid photographs and illustrations enhanced by brief narratives in laymen terms provide fascinating information about a group of five known tall clocks that were made in the Virginia Backcountry. The clocks genealogy is traced back to: Rome and Greece for the furniture case; Galileo for the pendulum; and England for the painted dial. Tap or click on a Hyperlink to go to online videos and references for further understanding about the Backcountry artisans and settlers, clock making, period furniture, painted dials, how a clock and pendulum works, clock setup and trouble shooting. Note: Not all Operating Systems recognize hyperlinks after Google processing deactivates them. In that case, search terms are provided for internet search. Enjoy the story! Recommended video links - Palladio, Chippendale, Galileo, How the escapement works, Four parts of a clock, and "The Clock that Changed the World."

This book provides a reinterpretation of early modern clock and watch dials on the basis of use. Between 1550 and the emergence of a standard format in 1770, dials represented combinations of calendrical, lunar and astronomical information using multiple concentric rings, subsidiary dials and apertures. Change was gradual, but significant. Over the course of eight chapters and with reference to thirty-five exceptional images, this book unlocks the meaning embedded within these early combinations. The true significance of dial change can only be fully understood by comparing dials with printed paper sources such as almanacs, diagrams and craft pamphlets. Clock and watch makers drew on traditional communication methods, utilised different formats to generate trust in their work, and tried to be help users in different contexts. The calendar, lunar and astronomical functions were useful as a memory prompt for astrology up until the mid-late seventeenth century. After the decline of this practice, the three functions continued to be useful for other purposes, but eventually declined.

This is the only book dealing with antique British clocks with painted dials, also known as japanned or white dials. No prior knowledge is assumed in the reader and the book explains how even the beginner can very easily learn to assess the style, age and quality and even the region of origin of any painted dial clock. The development of dial and case style is explained in non-technical detail with 44 colour plates and 275 black and white illustrations. In particular, regional trends and tastes in cases are identified and explained in detail, a feature of no other book. Considerable attention is given to show how the trade worked in the past, including how the clockmaker and the customer selected their dials. The book is written in a manner which can easily be followed by the beginner or the inexperienced owner of a clock, but the expert will find much here that is new, including a fully-detailed list of every recorded dialmaker, essential for cross-checking the age of any clock. Required reading for the owner of any painted dial clock as well as collectors and dealers.

Among the finest examples of European craftsmanship are the clocks produced for the luxury trade in the eighteenth century. The J. Paul Getty Museum is fortunate to have in its decorative arts collection twenty clocks dating from around 1680 to 1798: eighteen produced in France and two in Germany. They demonstrate the extraordinary workmanship that went into both the design and execution of the cases and the intricate movements by which the clocks operated. In this handsome volume, each clock is pictured and discussed in detail, and each movement diagrammed and described. In addition, biographies of the clockmakers and enamelers are included, as are indexes of the names of the makers, previous owners, and locations.