Japanning, the
practice of imitating far Eastern art in Europe and America, reached
a zenith in London clock cases in the second quarter of the eighteenth
century, then began to decline in popularity as the age of mahogany
arose. 
Clocks
by provincial makers, however, continued to use japanning, popularly
known as "chinoiserie" until almost the end
of the century. At one time it was thought that English clock cases
and furniture were actually shipped to the orient for decoration
and then returned, but research in recent years has disproved this
myth. The decoration is totally home-grown and the materials are
English and European in composition.
This clock is decorated in the imitation of tortoiseshell, with a base or ground color of black mottled with red. The various metal pigments are then applied over this, with some raised areas on the trunk door and base panel giving a shallow relief to the artwork. Metals used included gold leaf, both in sheet form and ground, in transparent medium, plus ground copper, bronze and silver in various lines and figures. With time, the base metals have darkened from oxidation, muting their impact, but the gold has continued to glow. Overall, the effect is spectacular, especially when seen under sympathetic lighting.
Case: The carcase and backboard
of the clock are quarter-sawn oak, for stability, with a panel of
some tight-grained fruitwood used on the door to carry the main decoration.
It retains its original caddy top elements and plinth, with restored
finials and fretwork. The surface artwork is original in pattern
and most of the material, but with some old restorations. It is
exceedingly complex and tightly patterned, with several scenes on "islands" down
the door and one large scene with 
a
house and a brilliant green pond on the base panel. Interestingly,
the brass dial is engraved with two ringneck pheasants, known in
England as "Chinese pheasants" in
the center, and another appears in the artwork on the trunk door.
Dial: The 12 inch dial exhibits several early 18th century characteristics, such as the "herringbone" bands of chevron-pattern engraving that border the major areas, and the use of a convex boss in the arch to display the maker's name. Half hour markers are still present, but the half-quarter indicators in the outer perimeter of the chapter ring have fallen out of fashion. Combined with the spandrel pattern, this dates the dial to the late 1720s or early 1730s. Hands are blued steel with the hour and minute hands original and the seconds hand replaced. John Robey's book The Longcase Clock illustrates a slightly earlier dial by Barrow with a very similar design, page 450.
Movement: Barrow's movement is eight days' duration with five pillars, using rack-and-snail hourly striking on a single bell and is equipped for strike repeating. Escapement is anchor recoil, and the weights are lead. Weights and pendulum appear to be original. Case, dial and movement are all original to each other.
Maker: William Barrow was born into a family of clockmakers in London. He was the son of William John Barrow, a member of the Clockmakers' Company in 1700. Our William was apprenticed in 1700, made a member of the Clockmakers' Company in 1710, and died in 1736. While large numbers of his clocks are not recorded, Britten notes that three are in the Nordiske Museum, Stockholm, one of which is japanned.
Circa
1725-1730
Approx. 8' 7 " high
No. 1624