![Simon Willard lighthouse clock](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Simon_Willard_lighthouse_clock.jpg)
A lighthouse clock is a type of
mantel clock manufactured in the U. S. from 1818 through 1830s by the American clockmaker
Simon Willard
Simon Willard (April 3, 1753 – August 30, 1848) was a celebrated American clockmaker. Simon Willard clocks were produced in Massachusetts in the towns of Grafton and Roxbury, near Boston. Among his many innovations and timekeeping improvement ...
, having the dial and works exposed beneath a glass dome on a tapered, cylindrical body.
They were also made by Simon Willard & Son, a partnership between the clockmaker and his son Simon Willard Jr. created in 1823. The father and son were in partnership for five years and in 1828, Simon Willard, Jr. established his own shop in Boston.
History
Lighthouse clocks are regarded as the first
alarm clocks
An alarm clock (or sometimes just an alarm) is a clock that is designed to alert an individual or group of individuals at a specified time. The primary function of these clocks is to awaken people from their night's sleep or short naps; they ar ...
produced in America, although a significant number of the later clocks of this type were crafted without alarms.
[Bob Jackman, ''The Lighthouse Clocks of Simon Willard'' (2002): in Antiques and the Arts Online](_blank)
The
clock
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...
consist of a round, square or octagonal wooden base that rises in a tapered column, which is itself surmounted by clockworks that are covered by a glass dome, giving the effect of a standing lighthouse. Some bases were decorated with pictures depicting classical scenes.
Both the form and the respective patented movement (in 1818)
were invented by the clockmaker and this timekeeper was devised to offer an alarm mechanism in a high-style shelf clock. Originally known as the "Patent Alarm Timepiece", S. Willard's patent also refers to them as "alarum (
sic
The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...
) clocks", they have become known as lighthouse clocks (a 20th century term) for their obvious similarities. The design of the cases were based on the classical art then in vogue;
Neoclassicism and
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
. Some of these clocks, however, are less formal and reflect the vernacular interest in painted furniture, particularly
Windsor chair
A Windsor chair is a chair built with a solid wooden seat into which the chair-back and legs are round- tenoned, or pushed into drilled holes, in contrast to standard chairs (whose back legs and back uprights are continuous). The seats of Windsor ...
s. Therefore, the wood cases are quite varied in design, quality and workmanship, and they could be paint and stencil decorated or mahogany with decorative
ormolu
Ormolu (; from French ''or moulu'', "ground/pounded gold") is the gilding technique of applying finely ground, high-carat gold– mercury amalgam to an object of bronze, and for objects finished in this way. The mercury is driven off in a kiln le ...
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
mounts. The best pieces, displayed figured mahogany veneer as the finest Empire parlour furnitures. Few original Willard lighthouse clocks have survived and it is estimated that about 200 to 300 examples of this highly sought-after collector timepiece remain.
The timekeepers are generally 24 to 30 inches tall, although there are examplaries where the column is as short as a couple inches.
The notion of a clock under a dome may hark back to the imported, some glass-domed,
French Empire mantel clock
A French Empire-style mantel clock is a type of elaborately decorated mantel clock that was made in France during the Napoleonic Empire (1804–1814/15). Timekeepers manufacturing during the Bourbon Restoration (1814/1815–1830) are also includ ...
s fashionable at the time. Or, they might have been influenced by English and French skeletonized clocks as well; that is, clocks whose plates have been cut and exposed in such a way as to show the internal workings of the clock. Willard's clockworks were not skeletonized, but the mechanism was visible too. The alarm bell was mounted atop the clock brass movement. Clock mechanisms are driven by a weight concealed in the body of the lighthouse, though the alarm mechanism is sometimes driven by a separate weight raised by a pullcord.
![Lighthouse clock](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Lighthouse_clock.jpg)
Regarding the movement, it is an 8-day weight driven, pendulum regulated clock and, as well as the cases, there were a considerable variety of mechanisms in terms of workmanship and design. Clocks with similar cases have significant differences in their movements, this could indicate there were many different makers or that some works were being imported from Europe.
About the dial, period lighthouse clocks either had porcelain dials with brass backs or painted iron dials, bearing the inscription; "Simon Willard" or "Willard Patent" or "Simon Willard's Patten" or "Simon Willard and Son's Pattent"; others have signed cases or tags with similar wording. In the larger market, however, there are a significant number of lighthouse clocks without a name on the dial, and even a few clocks with the names of other makers.
Most lighthouse clocks were produced between the mid-1820s and the mid-1830s, which was a time when the
Empire style
The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 durin ...
was still the prevailing
art movement
An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defi ...
, hence that many lighthouse clocks have Empire cases.
From the artistic point of view, the best timepieces of the era were a masterful collaboration of cabinetmaker, clockmaker, glass blower, decorative painter, and gilder producing as a result a high quality clock as well as an elegant decorative object.
The reason why lighthouse clocks never became a mass-produced timepiece it is because in the 1830s the U. S. was deeply into the Industrial Revolution and mass production. The manufacturers who were able to produce cheap clocks and then sell them for $2 were forcing, somehow, individual clockmakers out of business. Lighthouse clocks were custom and handmade objects created in an age when the vast majority of the clocks were commercially manufactured, these original clocks were going against the Industrial Revolution. They were continuing the tradition of the handmade clock and the workshop of an individual craftsman.
During the 20th century reproductions of this kind of mantel clock have been made, even nowadays a couple of clockmakers manufacture them, proving the interest that still raise among collectors and connoisseurs the clocks made by the talented and ingenious Simon Willard.
To stand out, an unusual exemplary displayed in one of the bookshelves of the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
, made by the clockmaker to commemorate the visit of the
Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
to the United States in 1824-1825. A likeness of Lafayette appears in a medallion on its base.
Original lighthouse clocks are rare and have become very valuable; for instance one was sold at
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
auction house on January 6, 2006 for US$744,000.
R. Scudder Smith,'' Sotheby's Americana Week Sales Total $24,693,680'' (2006): in Antiques and the Arts Online
Notes
External links
Willard House & Clock Museum
Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, a ca. 1825 displayed at the museum
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A lighthouse clock, ca. 1826-1830 bearing the inscription "Simon Willard Roxbury" in the column, not on the dial
Old Sturbridge Village Museum, a c. 1825 exemplary
An 1833 piece
David Lindow, a clockmaker who replicates lighthouse clocks
Edward H. Stone, another reproductions maker
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Clock designs
Antiques