Changing Time: Originality and use of clocks

Phillipson, Tacye

Changing Time: Originality and use of clocks

Resource type

Conference paper (unpublished)

Creator (person)

Phillipson, Tacye

ORCID

Abstract

Within our Science and Technology collections, many clocks are notable for having had long histories of maintenance, significant alteration and use, both before they came into our collections and within them. This paper will examine the different philosophies of care which surround clocks compared to our other collections with case studies of alteration and choice. The purpose that clocks serve has remained familiar over centuries and some clocks have been kept functional for a long time or returned to functionality, sometimes with considerable changes to their original form and mechanism. Outside our collections, many early clocks have had work attempting to undo changes, reflecting a typically greater value in the current market for clocks as artefacts of their date of manufacture over the stories of use which the alterations reveal. In 1662, the Bruce-Oosterwijck clock was part of the first attempt to establish longitude at sea with a purpose-made mechanical timepiece. This was a definite failure, and the clock’s use as a piece of scientific apparatus was soon over. It owes its survival to the reuse of the mechanism as a mundane domestic clock within a fashionable late 17th century case, considerably altered as an example of 1662 clockwork, and less horologically valued, while with a strong historical story. The Bartholomew Newsam clock, made for Margaret Stanley in about 1575, was considerably altered, probably in the 19th century, with the addition of a base taken from a chalice, gratuitous satyrs, and a larger dial. This could perhaps become a stronger artefact for telling stories of the Tudor court if we altered its appearance back – adding modern alteration to the old ones – but in the nearly 140 years this has been in our collections we have not yet chosen to do so.