SAM LAHEE LONG CASE CLOCK

My Clock. I purchased a Sam Lahee long case clock for CAD$500 from a local antique dealer in the Comox Valley in 2020. I then did some research. Timepiece Antique Clocks and its owner Kevin Chellar in Dublin are the only sources of information I could find.
My clock is a long case clock that is 92″ tall. It is constructed of quarter sawn oak – red oak for a majority of the case but white oak for the bracket feet, panel on front of base, mouldings on sides of the top of the base and the bottom of the hood. The hood is very simple with a peaked pediment and Doric columns.
I contacted Mr Chellar by email. He thought that the pediment had likely been changed (I disagree). The lack of Chippendale features would likely date the clock to after 1760. The brass clock face dates it to before 1780, as after that most clock faces were painted.
My main interest in the clock was the quarter sawn oak case and I would not have bought it if it were another wood. As with almost all of my quarter sawn oak furniture pieces, the old finishes hide most of the grain and this was no different. Mr Challar discouraged me from refinishing it. It appeared to have been refinished at some time in the past and I stripped it completely and used black walnut Danish oil to finish it. Several coats of wax brought out a beautiful surface.
Mr Challar was unwilling to give an estimate of the value, especially after he learned I had refinished it. From prices in Timepiece Antique Clocks: the 1760 Sam Lahee bracket clock was valued at 17,000 euros. It had a rare walnut case with Chippendale design features. The pediment had a brass medallion with Sam Lahee on it. It did not have a day of the month feature and was a simple bracket clock. My clock was later, but probably before 1780, and had a plain oak design. It is difficult obviously to guess its value, but it is well above the $500 I paid for it. I could care less about this value as I did not buy it for its antique value but for the wood. Finished, it is a beautiful clock with its brass face and bright gold spandrels. And it is huge completely filling a corner. 9 foot ceilings help.
Several mouldings on the hood were loose. I filled the hole where the pin was to close the front door of the hood. I replaced the bottom with a solid piece of wood stained and polyurethaned. Having a level clock is crucial to its ability to tell time. Someone had placed a 3/16″ shim on the right side of the hood. A supportive block was missing from the right bracket foot. It extended about 1/8″ below the bracket foot and supported the spine of the clock taking the weight off the bracket. I replaced the 3/4″ square block, removed the shim and added the 3/16 shim to the back right bracket to produce a completely level clock.
The clock went diagonally into a corner. I placed an eye bolt in the corner and used two pieces of coat hanger to secure the clock to the wall. I live in an earthquake zone.
The key appears to have been lost for many years – the front was accessed by a hole next to the lock where a sharp tool was used to open it. I could not find a key. I filled the hole to reinforce it but did not fill the exterior defect. I then hot glued a small magnet to keep the door closed.
The clock had been wound very tight so that the pulleys were not engaged. I released the ratchet/click on the time side, but could not release the chime side. I eventually took the clock to a local expert. He was able to release the chime mechanism. He replaced the second hand. He added a small brass block to the end of the pendulum (I eventually had to file this down to fit).
At home I hung the weights and the pendulum. But it still would not run.

Irish Clockmaking. Ireland was a hub for clockmakers in the 18th century and such clocks are now rare. The Irish clockmaking industry really began to prosper after King William III of England had a decisive victory over the deposed King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Booth was one of the first clockmakers, was originally from northern England and one of William’s soldiers who accepted land in Ireland in lieu of pay. There was a huge influx of migrants, Hugenots, Danes, Austrians, Scots, all bringing their own ideas” on clockmaking as well as the secondary skills it requires, such as carving, engraving and gold work.
Clocks became status symbols and, Irish clocks of the era are taller and have larger faces and hands than their British counterparts. The Booth clock, for example, is eight feet tall and typical of the size of grandfather clocks at the time. It was a nouveau riche thing – bigger was better. Simple as that.
Now Irish clockmaking is all but forgotten. It is unlikely that future generations will cherish these timepieces and all will be forgotten in a hundred years.

Timepiece Antique Clocks, Kevin Chellar’s clock shop in central Dublin. Kevin trained as a horologist at the Irish Swiss Institute of Horology and qualified in 1981. Recognizing that Dublin was a city without a dedicated clock shop, Timepiece Antique Clocks was opened in 1986 in Patrick St. Beginning at first with the technical restoration of timepieces, they later concentrated on accumulating a stock of fine clocks and the business of buying and selling antique clocks was well underway.
Dublin was the second city of the British Empire and lest any might view our clock and watchmakers purely of foreign origin, a quick inspection of ‘Watch & Clockmakers of Ireland’ by William Galland Stuart, will reveal the Macs and Os, who made their mark on Irish timekeeping.
It is fitting that the shop is located in Patrick St. as the clock making community of yesteryear congregated their business establishments together and these in the main lay between the Coombe and Temple Bar areas. Streets such as Golden Lane, Meath St. Thomas St., Werburgh St. and Fishamble St. were home to many clock and watch businesses and Timepiece Antique Clocks is no different. Patrick St. is at the very heart of this area and provides the most apt location for so nostalgic a trade.
Visitors to the shop are always amazed to find clocks made in the hometowns: Belfast, Galway, Rathfriland in Co. Down, Mullingar, Cork. The list goes on. Dublin, being the capital city, provided the greater number of examples. There is a specific design and unique quality to Irish clocks that may not be found elsewhere in the world.
Kevin and Carol strive at all times to have a comprehensive collection of fine clocks in the shop, among them being a range of long case, or grandfather, clocks which are almost exclusively Irish made.
Despite the success of the early clock makers, Mr. Chellar said he has located only a few dozen in the last 20 years. He said that he and his wife, Carol, “had to dig in every hole around the world — New York, Houston, Paris, Stockholm,” he said, scouring antique fairs and studying auction catalogs to find good pieces. Mr. Chellar said that all three clocks really belonged in an Irish museum but that neither the government nor the museums had the money to buy them.
1. Joseph Booth grandfather clock from 1725. Mr. Chellar calls “an absolute miracle” The grandfather clock was made by Joseph Booth, one of Dublin’s master clockmakers. It has “J Booth Dublin” engraved beneath the Roman numerals on the chapter ring, the circular feature around the edge of the brass clock face. And its case was made of walnut. The walnut veneers on the door are wafer thin, they’re set in pine. It’s nearly three centuries old and there’s no warp at all.
The clock has its original feet, the first time he has seen that on a grandfather clock of the period. “It might seem mundane to most but to us it’s mind-blowing!”
In 2005, Mr. Chellar sold another Irish-made walnut grandfather clock for 80,000 euros, the equivalent of $94,125 today. But prices have declined and the Booth clock is listed at €35,000, which includes its restoration.

Some of the pieces at Timepiece Antique Clocks, Kevin Chellar’s shop in central Dublin. The grandfather clock, centre, was made in Ireland in 1725.

Two are Irish bracket clocks dating from 1730 and 1760. The name refers to a tabletop clock also designed to sit in a wall-mounted bracket to allow for its hanging weights.
2. Johnson of Gallway 1730 bracket clock, that came from a small art auction in Britain. He has priced it at €22,000. It has a 12-inch mahogany case and a pull-repeat facility that sounds hours and quarter-hours on a descending scale of five bells.

3. Samuel Lahee of County Wexford 1760 bracket clock. Listed at €17,000, rare very desirable piece of Irish craftsmanship. The quintessentially Irish design of case it is especially rare because it is walnut. The back is glass, revealing the movement and the heart-shaped device made of polished brass that rests on the pendulum to steady the workings and keep the clock running accurately, an Irish conceit that Mr. Chellar said he had come across in only three or four other clocks.
The break arch dial with Lahee Wexford signature on a centre boss. Dual winding apertures for the double fusee and slotted aperture for mock pendulum. The backplate signed by Lahee in an engraved border. This movement strikes hours on a bell with verge escapement. The overall colour of the clock is superb, the walnut giving a sense of richness and warmth.

Another Sam Lahee mahogany bracket clock was auctioned in London in 2007 for £ 1,800 (US$ 2,357) inc. premium. The bell-topped case with brass handle surmount, double moulded cornice over arched side apertures, moulded plinth and brass ogee feet, the 7.5-inch break arched dial with rococo spandrels engraved centre and signed boss to the arch, the gut fusee movement (converted to anchor escapement) with six knopped and ringed pillars 51cm (20in) high.

HISTORY of IRISH CLOCKS
Pre 1740 Walnut Period. John Crampton, Meekings and Blundell, Parker and Cobham are names on early 18 century pieces. Cases were made of walnut, mulberry, yew wood and fruitwoods of sorts. Most often these veneers and finishing timbers would be found on a carcass of pine while across the water, oak was the most favoured carcass material. The early examples of clock and case work were heavily influenced by London trends. This is not surprising as the longcase clock as we know it was barely thirty years old at the turn of the 17th century.
Between the end of the Jacobean Wars and the Act of Union, Dublin was the second city of the empire and very wealthy. Ireland had lots of émigrés – Huguenots and Dutch – and they brought with them a lot of continental technology. In this town, you have to understand, clocks were a little like computers. Even up to the turn of the 19th century, they were considered a form of black magic. Some of these clocks even had a little talisman, almost like a Sheela na Gig, above the face to ward off evil spirits. The golden age of clock making lasted from about 1680 to 1750. Huge technological advances were made, but it was all very secretive. You couldn’t just tell people what you were up to, and how you were doing it. The church was keeping a very close eye. It was Galileo, for example, who came up with the idea of the pendulum. But for the rest of the world it was still earth, wind and fire.
With the establishment of the new wealthy ascendancy class. the style of the Irish clock took off on a separate path to its mainland counterpart. The shape and style of dials, which at the time were engraved brass with cast and gilded mounts, appeared to have differed almost immediately from those in Great Britain. Ten, 11 and 12-inch dials made in London were countered by a much larger Irish version of 13.5” approximately, although a few examples of 11 and 12 inches have been found. As to why the Irish found it necessary to produce a larger dial is not documented, although the adage, ‘bigger is better’ may be as good a reason as any. The large dial of course, necessitated a proportionately larger case, which may have allowed the craftsman to experiment somewhat with style and design.
Very few examples of the pre 1740 era have survived to advise on the fashions of the day. The principle features of the early 18th century clock case are, the flat-topped hood with blind fret frieze, which may reflect the shape of swans, for example, in the centre. Doric and Corinthian capitals at the upper end of plain pilasters intrinsic to the hood door, a crossbanded masque behind the hood door, inset panels of burr walnut or yew wood positioned appropriately when a lenticle (glass bulls eye in trunk door) was employed. These panels are followed through into the base. Crossbanding is employed as is herringbone string inlay and most characteristically, a pair of harlequin type figures at the top of the trunk, one left and one right, facing each other from either side of the hood. Each one appears to be gesturing to the other with a single finger of one hand, the significance of which we may only surmise!
The dials for such cases are most usually decorated with exquisite engraving of chevron and herringbone. No space is spared on such dial plates. Many early movements and dials may be found recased in later mahogany cases. I believe the main reasons for this to be threefold: 1. Proportionally fewer clocks were constructed on this island than in Great Britain, vis-àvis our population differences and so fewer survived intact compared to our English counterparts. 2. The materials chosen by local craftsmen were not of a durable type and so deteriorated through rot and pestilence. 3. The arrival of mahogany, a new and exotic material from the Spanish islands of San Domingo and later Cuba, may have attracted patrons to replace less desirable indigenous cabinets with the novel exotic timber.

Chippendale Period – Post 1730. Mahogany first brought to these islands as ballast heralded a new era of cabinet making. The Irish craftsmen brought to the new medium, a convergence of a Celtic mood and a classical style, influenced by European immigres and those patrons and architects who had been on the grand tour of classical sites of Rome and Athens. From a clocks point of view, 1730 would appear to draw a line in the sand and all similarities to their English cousins were swept away.
The new style, which has become known as Irish Chippendale, employed the finest quality San Domingo mahogany in a tall elegant and well-proportioned case. The main features were a swan-necked pediment over a cushion mould, carved with acanthus foliage and centred by a shell or ‘green man’. Fluted pilasters with concave and convex reeding, terminating in carved Corinthian capitals flanking the hood.
The trunk door was very long, break arch in design and with a wide fielding. The base was short, with a raised and fielded panel, typically backed by rails and stiles.
The brass dial size remained faithful to 13 ½ inches approximately, although it became plainer than earlier examples and lost much of the heavy engraving and chasing which was seen before. This trend persisted through the rest of the 18th century in a progressive manner.
The earlier examples of the Chippendale clock may be recognised by certain features in the cabinet. Hood mouldings are convexed, trunk mouldings are concave and sweeping, trunk doors have a very wide fielding and are usually backed by thick and rough pine. Dials were fitted with four spandrels; the earlier dial is transitional from walnut to mahogany and depicting a pair of cherubs supporting the crown. No doubt claiming its divine lineage.
The chapter ring (which is where numbers 1-12 are engraved) while perhaps plainer was usually as wide as before the arrival of mahogany and was some ½ inch larger than post 1750.
Irish clockmakers as a rule remained faithful to the square brass dial of 13 ½ inches while in London; 12-inch arch dials of one piece became the fashion.
Many individuals have cast aspersions as to the manufacture of Irish clockworks, stating that such movements originated in Britain rather than home grown. To hold such a view, of course, reveals only a poor grasp of the subject as fundamental and basic differences apply. Mainly, the English preferred five pillar movements; plates tended to the heavier and taller, pinion position of the third wheel tended to differ and perhaps winding arbour distances were greater in Irish clock movements due to the larger dial.
The Chippendale longcase, principally in mahogany, although oak and red walnut examples are to be found, dominated as a style for the rest of the 18th century. It saw a few stylistic changes namely; the use of the lion’s masque instead of a shell from approximately 1760, pilasters with carved Corinthian capitals gave way to separate fluted pillars with Doric capitals. The use of timber capitals prevailed in Ireland while the use of cast brass was more common in Britain. From approximately 1770, trunk doors while maintaining their full length, made a transition from a break arch style to a scalloped feature. Strap hinges gave way to butt acorn versions. The mouldings under the hood became concave instead of convex and waist mouldings often ogee in flavour as opposed to the previous concave style. The fielding in the lower base panel also became muter.
Major changes begin to occur circa 1780 and the use of blind fret frieze or indeed open fret became popular as an alternative for carving.

Neo Classical Painted Dial Clocks 1780 also saw the arrival of what was to become the new genre of Irish long case clock. This was a lighter built case in a neo classical style. It had very sharp clean cut lines with the main features being a broken arch pediment, a short trunk door over an inset or raised panel and the base very often had a panel inlayed with stringing. These cases made strong use of lighter colours with string and shell inlays, figured veneers mitred and crossbanded.
The introduction of such clock cases goes hand in hand with the development pioneered in Birmingham, namely the painted dial. This was a new alternative to the traditional brass face. I believe that this departure in many ways was customer driven and I would subscribe to the ‘easy read’ thinking. Old brass dials, once tarnished became dark and in an age of poor lighting, a dark Georgian hallway may have been a poor place to read the time on a clock face, whereas the bright and legible painted dials provided an easy read factor. These dials were at the time, made in Dublin although, as we progress to approximately 1810, many dials were imported from Birmingham. These in the main belonged to the family of circular dials, so characteristic of the 19th century. The practice of buying in dials was more prevalent in Ulster and Cork.
As with many things the earlier of these neo classical clocks sported the most detail. Pediments had moulded returns in the broken arch and dental work was often used to supplement mouldings, a convex mould was used below the collar mouldings under the hood. The use of quarter reeded pilasters to the corners of the trunk which were found on the later Chippendale cases was carried through to the new style and indeed, the reeded pilasters followed through into the base corners.
1790-1800 heralded a plainer view of the design of case and fashion dictated a generally simpler version of this clock. Of course, if one takes history into account, the trouble that we now call ’98 may have seen finance taking a hand.
The neo classical style remained prevalent to circa 1820 and finally Roman numerals gave way to Arabic style. The names most often found in the era of 40 years were, Bainbridge, Buchanan, Gordon & Fletcher, Gaskin, Vizer and Warren to name a few.
1800 and the Act of Union see another fundamental change of direction. Taking somewhat of a lead from London and Edinburgh, the hand painted dial begins to take a hold on Dublin, Cork and Belfast. These three regions traditionally held the main spheres of influence on this island, each to its own stylistic choices. All three employed gadrooned rope edging known as Nelsoning, string inlays often preserved and a break arch hood to encompass and compliment the circular dial. These were typically 12 and 13 inch.
Movement wise, not a lot had changed although, where early makers often made an effort to decorate the works that no one would see, the practice died out in favour of plainer unembellished brass and steel. Very strangely, it was not the practice to sign movements on this island although there are some exceptions, notable Edward Smith of Dublin.

Irish Clock Makers. What of Irish clockmakers, who were they and what was their social background? William Stuart in his list of Irish watch and clockmakers, notes makers from 1611. However, at this time it may not be practical to look beyond 1700 and indeed in the light of the incendiary fires of 1922 at the Four Courts, in which the bulk of our records were destroyed, it is a wonder that any information at all is in evidence. Other sources of information might include the records of the Dublin Goldsmiths Co., surviving street directories and publications such as the Belfast Newsletter, who may have carried advertisements for practicing clockmakers and watchmakers, declaring their skills and wares or notices of lost property.
By and large the family names of our horologist were not Gaelic, although O’Neill, O’Shaughnessy and O’Reilly are to be found alongside McCormack, McMaster and McCabe. Surnames such as Dalrymple, Hercule Troy, Samuel Lahee, Barnaby De la Hoyde, Barnaby Vizer, James Vidouze and Wm.Teulon are commonly found on clock dials and bear testament to what was a rich environment of immigrant craftworkers, together with homegrown. We appear to have been influenced in someway during the 18th century by the arrival of Huguenot watch and clockmakers. It is unclear whether or not they directed and influenced our progress in the field of horology or if they merely adapted skills learned on the continent to suit the demands and circumstances of their adopted homeland. I would personally subscribe to the latter notion.
Experience has shown the large bulk of clocks made in this country to have been of a tried and tested nature and almost exclusively domestic. Although, it can be said that while the majority of clocks produced were market driven in style, such notables as Sharp of Dublin and Lowry of Belfast produced many very fine observatory quality regulators. Notables such as James Wilson of Belfast and James Waugh of Armagh and Dublin also devised a small number of musical clocks.
Indeed, John McCabe of Newry placed the following advertisement in Belfast News Letter on 14th February to 14th March 1769. John McCabe, WATCH and CLOCK-MAKER in North St, Newry, takes this Method of informing HIS Friends and the Public that he continues to make all Sorts of Watches and Clocks equal to Goodness to any now made in London or Dublin, viz. Plain, Repeating, And Horizontal Watches; good plain Weight and Spring Clocks: He likewise makes musical Clocks to play Tunes by either bells, or Organs, so as to play a different Tune every Day in the Week at the hours of 3, 6, 9, and 12, and a Psalm Tune on Sunday, of which he has now a Clock in Hands as a Specimen, which will be finished in a few Days, and may be Then viewed by any Gentlemen who pleases. He returns his sincere Thanks to his Friends and those Gentlemen who were pleased to encourage him and honour him with their Custom.
It would appear however, that demand did not abound at that time for musical clocks as James Wilson of Belfast who claimed to have made the first model of its kind in that part of Ireland, eventually had to resort to raffling the clock in order to make its value! The number of tickets sold was twenty-five @ one guinea each which of course tells us the estimated value of such an item at the time – 25 guineas.
After many years of personal interest, I have discovered that the people who constructed our clocks were not only clockmakers. In a previous article, I noted the incredible career of one William Kennedy, born in Tanderagee, Co.Armagh, in 1768. Blind by the age of four, William went on to have an illustrious career as a clockmaker but also is credited with significant improvements to the uileann pipes and is more often known as the ‘blind piper’ than the ‘blind clockmaker’.
In nearby Lurgan, the McCabe family reared many clock and watchmakers. Internationally, the most famous being James McCabe, who removed to London and founded the House of McCabe. However, his brother Thomas, moved to Belfast where he became a successful businessman in the clock, watch and jewellery trade, but more to his credit, involved himself significantly in the Volunteer movement in the late 18th century. During these troubles, Thomas hung a sign outside his shop front, declaring himself to be a slave under the crown. He was also reputed to have single-handedly prevented Belfast becoming a slaving port. This occurred during a meeting of interested business persons to discuss the possibility of the slave trade coming to Belfast. Thomas declared this to be an unholy trade and that the first man to vote for this motion would be cursed with a withered hand.
Another interesting gentleman was Mr.John Baillie of Downpatrick. The Baillie family, John, James and William, made clocks in Downpatrick, Dromore and Kircubbin. John however is noteworthy for his involvement in the ’98 movement in Ulster. He spent many months in France; some say procuring armaments and spent a period of Kilmainham Jail for his trouble. Interestingly, he was allowed to continue his clockmaking whilst incarcerated. I guess he was well connected.

Sam Lahee History. Bob Fitzsimons is a descendant of Samuel via his daughter, Amelia, who married Isaac Barrington of Ballycogley (born 1772). I suspect Isaac, also a watchmaker in Wexford and then in Dublin on Westmoreland St, was probably apprenticed to Samuel. They were traumatised by the 1798 rebellion and went to Dublin where Samuel died in 1803. Samuel Lahee had married Margaret Gird, daughter of William Gird, in 1760.
I also recently came across two Samuel Lahee deeds from 1764 and 1778 in both of which he is described as a watchmaker of the town of Wexford, and concerning a premises close to St Iberius’ church. Samuel Lahee died in 1803 in College Green ‘after a tedious illness, Mr Samuel Leahy[sic] a respectable watchmaker in the town of Wexford and one of those who suffered severely during the rebellion’ [Freeman’s 28 May 1803]. He is not listed as one of those imprisoned in Wexford Gaol, but if Isaac and Amelia were in New Ross they may have gone there and suffered through the battle of New Ross. I would imagine that he may have gone to Dublin after the death of his wife.

Turning the Hands. You are not supposed to turn the hands of your clock backwards. For daylight savings time, all you have to do is stop your clock for an hour and start it off again. In springtime going forward you just set the hands one hour. But setting the hands backwards is a no-no because there are levers that are lifted in a clockwise action, and if they go backwards you are bending and twisting them.” A customer came in with a clock that had mysteriously stopped – a spider had got into the mechanism.
If you keep that maintained in a decent, dry atmosphere, in your home and look after it, generations and generations later there won’t be much change in its condition.

LONG CASE CLOCKS
A grandfather clock (also a long case clock, tall-case clock, grandfather’s clock, or floor 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. The English clockmaker William Clement is credited with the development of this form in 1670. Until the early 20th century, pendulum clocks were the world’s most accurate timekeeping technology, and longcase clocks, due to their superior accuracy, served as time standards for households and businesses. Today they are kept mainly for their decorative and antique value, having been widely replaced by both analog and digital timekeeping.

History

The advent of the longcase clock is due to the invention of the anchor escapement mechanism by Robert Hooke around 1658. Prior to the adoption of the anchor mechanism, pendulum clock movements used an older verge escapement mechanism, which required very wide pendulum swings of about 80–100°. Long pendulums with such wide swings could not be fitted within a case, so most freestanding clocks had short pendulums.

The anchor mechanism reduced the pendulum’s swing to around 4° to 6°, allowing clockmakers to use longer pendulums, which had slower “beats”. These consumed less power allowing clocks to run longer between windings, caused less friction and wear in the movement, and were more accurate. Almost all long case clocks use a seconds pendulum (also called a “Royal” pendulum^[2]) meaning that each swing (or half-period) takes one second. These are about a metre (39 inches) long (to the centre of the bob), requiring a long narrow case. The long narrow case actually predated the anchor clock by a few decades, appearing in clocks in 1660 to allow a long drop for the powering weights. However, once the seconds pendulum began to be used, this long weight case proved perfect to house it as well.
British clockmaker William Clement, who disputed credit for the anchor escapement with Robert Hooke, made the first longcase clocks by 1680. Later the same year, Thomas Tompion, the most prominent British clockmaker, was making them too. Long case clocks spread rapidly from England to other European countries and Asia.
The first long case clocks, like all clocks prior to the anchor escapement, had only one hand; an hour hand. The increased accuracy made possible by the anchor motivated the addition of the minute hand to clock faces in the next few decades.
Between 1680 and 1800, the average price of a grandfather clock in England remained steady at £1 10s. In 1680, this was the amount paid by an average working family for a year’s rent, so the purchase of clocks was confined to the relatively well-off. But by 1800 wages had increased enough so that many lower middle class households owned grandfather clocks.
Modern long case clocks use a more accurate variation of the anchor escapement called the deadbeat escapement.

Description 

Traditionally, long case 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. All modern striking long case clocks have eight-day mechanical quarter chiming and full hour striking movements. Most long case clocks are cable-driven, meaning that the weights are suspended by cables. If the cable were attached directly to the weight, the load would cause rotation and untwist the cable strands, so the cable wraps around a pulley mounted to the top of each weight. The mechanical advantage of this arrangement also doubles the running time allowed by a given weight drop.
Cable clocks are wound by inserting a special crank (called a “key”) into holes in the clock’s face and turning it. Others, however, are chain-driven, meaning that the weights are suspended by chains that wrap around gears in the clock’s mechanism, with the other end of the chain hanging down next to the weight. To wind a chain-driven long case clock, one pulls on the end of each chain, lifting the weights until the weights come up to just under the clock’s face.

Elaborate Striking Sequences.
In the early 20th century, quarter-hour chime sequences were added to long case clocks. At the top of each hour, the full chime sequence sounds, immediately followed by the hour strike. At 15 minutes after each hour, 1/4 of the chime sequence plays, at the bottom of each hour, 1/2 of the chime sequence plays, and at 15 minutes before each hour, 3/4 of the chime sequence plays. The chime tune used in almost all longcase clocks is Westminster Quarters. Many also offer the option of Whittington chimes or St. Michael’s chimes, selectable by a switch mounted on the right side of the dial, which also allows one to silence the chimes if desired. As a result of adding chime sequences, all modern mechanical longcase clocks have three weights instead of just two. The left weight provides power for the hour strike, the middle weight provides power for the clock’s pendulum and general timekeeping functions, while the right weight provides power for the quarter-hour chime sequences.

Naming

The Oxford English Dictionary states that the popular 1876 song My Grandfather’s Clock is responsible for the common name “grandfather clock” being applied to the longcase clock.^[7]

The song was composed by an American songwriter by the name of Henry Clay Work who discovered a long grandfather clock in The George Hotel in Piercebridge, in County Durham in England. When he asked about the clock, he was informed that it had two owners. After the first owner died the clock became inaccurate and when the second owner died, the clock stopped working altogether. The story inspired Henry to create the song.
Grandfather clocks are of a certain height. There are also “grandmother” and “granddaughter” clocks, which are slightly shorter in height.