Clocktime: The Olivewood Tompion Table Clock c1673, 03 Case Design

Thomas Tompion - Olivewood Tompion architectural turntable-base tic-tac escapement table clock.
Join Dr John C Taylor OBE from the Clocktime digital museum as he discusses the case design of The Olivewood Tompion Table Clock, circa 1673.
Discover more about early and antique clocks and watches...
clocktime.co.uk/artefacts/oli...
It was obviously designed as a building and it's even got a rain drip. It was obviously designed by an architect and who, but Christopher Wren was the architect of the period? It's quite likely that these early clocks were all designed by Christopher Wren or Robert Hooke because their architectural features and their classical architecture, the flaming urn finals the Corinthian capitals, the twisted columns, the bases, the swags, they're all classical features from classical buildings, from Greek, Roman temples and here they are in a clock made in London. The capital is in three parts with the lower acanthus leaf, the middle acanthus leaf and then the top of the capital raised together and then it has been chased and then gilded with fire gilding with mercury in the gold to leave this beautiful three-part capital showing all the re-entrance and interstices of the highest quality. It's also made in olivewood and all the light brown, browny green wood here is olivewood and there's no furniture with olivewood at this period, it all occurs later and so this is a statement that it is the latest technology and it has different wood to show off. The olivewood consists of oysters and that's a branch which is cut through at an angle to give a lozenge shape piece of veneer and the veneer is then placed on the dial, on the side, on the back of the clock and then the detail is picked out with these lovely stringers of ebony and the columns are ebonized, that's from a softwood pear or apple and then they're turned and then they're dyed and polished so they look just like ebony. It's again an olivewood frieze with silk behind to let out the noise from the strike. And the influence of the Puritans had come right the way through for 50 years, that black was everything and so the early clocks tended to be in black cases and here you've now got a change from the austere black to making a statement of beauty of grace of fine art in this clock case, it's an Olivewood a complete change from the Puritan black.