Was Fromanteel the Mystery Maker? - The Mansion House Clock
By Keith Bates
Article in Clocks Magazine of January 1982.
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Have you ever been present at an auction sale when an anonymous longcase clock came under the hammer and sold for a song simply because there was no maker’s name on it? You have? Well, you will know just how I felt. But suppose clocks were like paintings and it was possible for an expert to identify the maker of a clock by the style of the workmanship. I am no expert, but while sitting on the edge of my seat during the bidding I was wishing I had a crystal ball which could tell me who had made this very fine clock (shown in Fig. 1).
days. Likewise Francis Rudston, the Sheriff in the same year, was very wealthy from his speculations in the coal trade with London.
From the local newspapers of the period we learn that during their year of office these two pillars of society were very generous and donated a number of prizes to the sporting events in the area. One such donation was a large silver cup which was given as a prize to the winning owner of the annual horse race, held on the Town Moor (Race Week is still celebrated each year). It is therefore not too difficult to imagine these two benefactors presenting the Town with a memento of their term of office, in the form of this splendid year duration clock. It is also easy to understand their reason for ordering a year clock instead of an ordinary 8-day clock, when we learn (see Reid) that the clock was wound each year on New Year’s night with great pomp and ceremony by the Mayor. The donors would not only be remembered for their generosity, but also for the tradition which they started by making the winding ceremony an important occasion. Turning to the clock itself, there are a number of interesting features on it which might lead us to the conclusion that this clock was made in London. Firstly, the 12 in. dial is one of the earliest examples of the broken arch style which was not widely used until after 1720. The hands and chapter ring engraving are very similar to the year clock by Daniel Quare which is displayed in the British Museum. Secondly, the case is one of the earliest examples of a lacquered case; marquetry cases were used for the more expensive clocks (except by some of the leading makers e.g. Tompion, Quare and Knibb) up to about 1715. Thirdly, the movement has both a striking train and a going train, with recorded seconds. Striking trains were often omitted to save on space and cost in year clocks as it is often difficult to accommodate two very large weights in the trunk. The hands are often counterbalanced to reduce friction to a minimum, but this one has very light hands which are not counterbalanced. The seconds hand is usually omitted on this type of clock, again to reduce the amount of friction on the gears. Even so, we are told by Reid that this clock will run for up to eighteen months when fully wound. All these features suggest a maker of outstanding skill in clockmaking. The skill is necessary in the accurate cutting of the wheels and pinions to ensure each tooth and each leaf is of perfect shape and size, pinions and wheels meshed in exactly the correct position to allow the minimum amount of friction in the gearing. 
Looking at the movement of the Mansion House Clock (Fig.3) we see that both trains employ the most delicate of wheelwork (apart from the first and second wheels from the barrel) and the escapement is so small that one could easily imagine it as part of a late 18th century table clock movement. Certain London makers were noted for their lightness of movement, amongst them were the Fromanteels. Before we start jumping to conclusions let us consider some facts which may lead us to making a calculated guess as to the origin of this intriguing clock. First of all we must ask, was it possible that this clock was made in Newcastle? We can answer this question in the affirmative because the following advertisement appeared in the Newcastle Courant dated Monday 20th to Wednesday 22nd August 1711 and was repeated in subsequent editions:-
"A very fine new clock, that goes a Year without Winding up, is to be Raffled for at the Fountain Tavern by the Keyside in Newcastle Upon Tyne, at 12 Pounds price, and 24 lots, 10 shillings per Lot." We can learn quite a lot from this advertisement, even though it does not mention the advertiser’s name. Year clocks were being offered for sale in Newcastle in 1711, and were most likely being made there too. The advertiser does not appear to have a workshop and so is probably a new arrival (a local clockmaker offers a two week clock in the same way some weeks later but gives his name and address of his workshop). The price of £12 may not include a case. Clocks were often sold without a case during the 18th century, the purchaser making his own arrangements for providing a case. The leading clockmaker in Newcastle, after Abraham Fromanteel’s return to London in 1680, was Fromanteel’s former apprentice Deodatus Threlkeld who worked in Newcastle until his ‘retirement’ in 1723. Threlkeld certainly produced some fine table clocks and longcase clocks, equal in quality to many of the fine clocks produced in London at this time, but there is no record of him having produced a year clock. However he was highly respected in the Town and was acquainted with most of the gentry and wealthy merchants in the area, including the Mayor, Matthew Featherstonhaugh (their premises were near each other in the Close). It would therefore seem quite in order for the Mayor to ask Threlkeld to supply the clock. Nevertheless I feel sure that Threlkeld did not make this clock because he would have put his name on it. Thanks to the research of Brian Loomes and others we now know quite a lot about the Fromanteels ( see Clocks Mag for May, June and July 1980) including the fact that Abraham did ‘retire’ to Newcastle but the date of his retirement has so far not been stated. So is it possible that Fromanteel was the mysterious maker of this clock? I think it is for the following reasons. Abraham was a member of the Clockmakers’ Company from 1680-1711 when he paid his last subscription to the Company. He would have been 65 years of age in 1711; old enough to retire to the country, as he called Newcastle. Fromanteel was a very capable clockmaker, as were the whole family, and we know that his father advertised year clocks as early as 1658. Remember also that the clock was of the latest London fashion. I feel sure that all these pieces of information are not merely a series of coincidences but that they all point to Fromanteel’s return to Newcastle in 1711 and that the advertisement quoted earlier was his way of announcing the arrival of the master. To strengthen this belief, shortly after this date Threlkeld started looking around for a place in the country to get away from the heat (he took a lease on some land at the Lee near Hexham on 3rd February 1712/3 and in August 1713 purchased some land at Tritlington where he built a house to which he ‘retired’ in 1723). If we accept that Fromanteel did return to Newcastle in August 1711 and placed the advertisement in the Newcastle Courant we have to explain why his names was not on the Mansion House clock if he did in fact make it. Matthew Featherstonhaugh was almost certain to see the advertisement in the Courant (it was the only local paper available at the time) which would seed the idea in his mind that such a clock would be the ideal gift to the Town as a symbol of his period of office. Being associated with Thelkeld he would naturally commission the clock from him. Threlkeld, being unfamiliar with year clocks might sub-contract the job to his former master, Fromanteel. Under the circumstances both would agree to omit the signature of the ‘maker’, as this was the fairest solution. Threlkeld could have put his own name on Fromanteel’s work, as this was common practice, but his respect for his master would not allow him to do this. My reasoning and conclusions might be completely wrong, who knows, only time will tell. In the meantime I am very pleased to be able to report that although it appeared that the Newcastle City Council was not prepared to safeguard the future of this symbol of the Town’s former glory, a group of public spirited local businessmen raised the necessary amount to keep this masterpiece of craftsmanship in its home Town. I only wish there were more generous souls like them who would preserve the surviving monuments of our outstanding local craftsmen in a place where the public might see these treasures for themselves, and appreciate their importance to the history of the region. |
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