Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock The story of British horology really begins here, with the production of this minimally decorated box clock; it is one of the most historically important clocks exhibited on Clocktime. The Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock is among the first domestic pendulum clocks produced in Britain. It was made around 1659 by Ahasuerus Fromanteel, one of the most pioneering, creative clockmakers in horological history.[1] He was the first to introduce the new domestic pendulum clock to London, thereby ushering in a technological sea change in British clockmaking. With these latest productions, Fromanteel not only drove innovation within his field but also revolutionised the London clockmaking market, which soon achieved worldwide renown. Dutch technology Fromanteel was a descendent of Dutch Protestant refugees (known as Walloons) who had settled in Norwich around 1600. He probably originally trained as a blacksmith in Norwich.[2] The historical record indicates that he had settled in London by the age of 22, when he joined the Dutch Reformed Church (known as the strangers’ church) in Austin Friars in June 1629. Over the next 20 or so years, Fromanteel came into his own as a maker of telescopic lenses, clocks and watches, and also as a mechanical engineer, particularly well known for his dredging machines. By the time this clock was made, Fromanteel had built a formidable reputation based on the quality of his workmanship and the ingenuity of his designs. What is more, he was an astute businessman and original thinker who was part of a circle of highly influential Dutch-Protestant scientists and inventors. Through his contacts, he maintained strong ties strong ties to the Dutch Protestant community in England and abroad, and eventually became the only London clockmaker to ever run a concurrent business on the Continent, in Amsterdam.[3] In 1657, Fromanteel sent his son John (Johannes) to The Hague in the Netherlands to work under contract for the Dutch clockmaker Salomon Coster. Specifically, John was to aid in the first ever production of scientist Christiaan Huygens’ newly patented domestic pendulum clock technology.[4] There has been much debate among English and Dutch historians about the extent to which John worked on these new, much more accurate clocks and whether he assisted in the making or made Coster’s movements. Horologist Richard Garnier recently suggested that the ambiguous wording of the contract allows for the possibility that it was John who instructed Coster on the application of Huygens’ new technology, and not the other way around.[5] This scenario has been widely rejected by Dutch horological scholars. However, the horologist Dr John C Taylor points out that John’s payment for his work with Coster was far too high for that of a mere assistant, and that the amount is more suited to a professional, the modern-day equivalent of an independent contractor with specialised expertise. Although he was not admitted to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers until 1663, it is certainly possible that, by 1657, John’s clockmaking skills were quite advanced. Whatever the case, John clearly had a firm grasp of the new technology. After leaving The Hague in May 1658, he resumed work with his father at the large Fromanteel workshop in Mosses Alley, Southwark, in London. There he was able to reproduce Huygens’ technology and share his newfound knowledge with his father, as almost immediately on the heels of his return, Ahasuerus Fromanteel began producing the first pendulum clocks in England. The pendulum clock debuts in London Fromanteel’s famous advertisement of 18 November 1658 in the Commonwealth Mercury (Mercurius Politicus), heralds his introduction of the domestic pendulum clock to the London market. In it, he describes his horological innovations and states that his clocks have been ‘examined and proved ... before ... the Lord Protector [Oliver Cromwell]’ himself. Fromanteel’s advert reads: There is lately a way found out for making Clocks that go exact and keep equaller time then any now made without this Regulater (examined and proved before his Highness the Lord Protector by such Doctors whose knowledge and learning is without exception) and are not subject to alter by change of weather, as others are, and may be made to go a week, or a moneth, or a year, with once winding up, as well as those that are wound up every day, and keep time as well; and is very excellent for all House Clocks that go either with Springs or Waights: And also Steeple Clocks that are most subject to differ by change of weather. Made by Ahasuerus Fromanteel, who made the first that were in England. You may have them at his House, on the Bank-side in Mosses-Alley, Southwark and at the sign of the Maremaid in Lothbury, near Bartholomew-Lane end, London.[6] From this time, Fromanteel’s workshop ‘was a hotbed of technical advance’ as he immediately, began experimenting and innovating upon Huygens’ design.[7] With the production of the Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock just a year later, in 1659, Fromanteel replicated several of the Dutch features used in Coster’s clocks, such as the use of barrels, a hinged movement hung from the left side of dial plate, and a simple box case. However, there were key differences between the Fromanteel and Coster productions. In his efforts to reduce upfront costs and improve accuracy, Fromanteel drove innovation. He integrated several of his newly discovered refinements into the design of this clock. For example, he used his preferred pivoted verge escapement. Additionally, he forewent the use of Coster’s square pillars, opting instead to use turned rounded pillars. He also latched his pillars to the front plate of the movement. By way of comparison, Coster’s square pillars were attached to the backplate. When it was made, the Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock was the epitome of technical excellence – a groundbreaking product of all the knowledge that John brought back with him from The Hague and his father’s ingenuity.[8] Lost and found: a clock caper It is indeed only by a remarkable twist of fate that this clock is here with us today, because it was almost lost not just once, but twice. After finding its way to the home of the 5th Baronet, Sir Guy Theophilus Halswell Campbell OBE MC sometime during the mid 20th century, it was almost accidentally thrown away as rubbish! Fortunately, it was discovered in the bottom of a bin bag, and subsequently acquired for the Peter Gwynn Collection by Ronnie Lee, a leading expert on English clocks. The Peter Gwynn Collection was a renowned private collection of Early Renaissance and Gothic arms and armour, mid-17th century clocks and early English oak furniture – all brought together by the passionate collector R. T. Gwynn, who was known as Peter.[9] During the summer of 1995, the Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock and the Musical Fromanteel Table Clock, made around 1665 (coming soon to Clocktime), were stolen from Gwynn’s Tudor-era barn house, while he was relaxing in his garden in his wheelchair.[10] Although the theft was reported immediately, and the police managed to track down the Musical Fromanteel clock, the Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock was not found.[11] About ten years or so later, the clock miraculously resurfaced in Amsterdam in a shop. Thankfully, the retailer notified the police, who then contacted Peter’s son, Peter Gwynn Jr. Sadly, his father had passed away before the clock was recovered. In the interim between Gwynn Senior’s death and the recovery of the Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock, the Dr John C Taylor Collection had acquired numerous early British clocks from the Peter Gwynn Collection, minus, of course, the Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock. After the Dutch police contacted Gwynn Jr, he reached out to Dr Taylor, who promptly arranged to repatriate the clock to the United Kingdom and reunite the clock with its collection. It became part of the Dr John C Taylor Collection in 2010. Today, the Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock has rightfully taken its place in British horological history, and it is still part of the Dr John C Taylor Collection. In July 2025, the digital exhibit of the Fromanteel Pendulum Box Clock was created and displayed on Dr Taylor’s Clocktime Digital Museum, where it can be admired and studied from anywhere in the world. Dr Kristin Leith, Curator of Clocktime July 2025 End Notes [1] Aghib. 1969. 212–215; Dawson et al. 1994 [1982], 81–81 and 143; Garnier and Hollis 2018, 148–149, Catalogue No. 19; Hurst 1969, Catalogue No. 3; Plomp 1979, 24. [2] Garnier 2018; Loomes 1975. [3] Garnier 2018; Plomp 1971. [4] Huygens' pendulum clock was prototyped in 1656, and by 1657 he had contracted the manufacture of such designs to clockmaker Salomon Coster in The Hague with a local patent. The contract of John Fromanteel’s employment with Coster was drawn up on 3 September 1657. [5] Garnier 2018, 66–68. The oldest Huygens-style pendulum clock produced by Salomon Coster is dated 1657 and is in the Museum Boerhaave in Leiden. See also Coster's Box Clock with movement probably designed by John Fromanteel around 1657 (coming soon to Clocktime). [6] Ullyet 2011. [7] Garnier 2018, 70. [8] Carter 2021, 36. By the 1660s, other London clockmakers, including Edward East, were also producing pendulum clocks. Like Fromanteel, these makers were experimenting with and refining their designs as they strove to deliver more accurate clocks for a lower cost up front. This drive to innovate and increase profit produced two competing schools of pendulum clock design: the Fromanteel school and the East school. Within a few short years, by 1665, the East school had caught up technically with the Fromanteel school, with East producing clocks of near-equal refinement to Fromanteel’s. [9] Gwynn 1990; Hayward and Blair 1962; Lee 1969. [10] Garnier and Hollis 2018, 148. For the Musical Fromanteel Table Clock, see Garnier and Hollis 2018, Catalogue No. 38. [11] The theft was reported on in the AHJ Summer 1995 issue, p. 177, Police Item 1. References Aghib, E. 1969. ‘The Exclusive Fromanteel’ in Antiquarian Horology 6/4: 212–215. Carter, J. 2021. The John C Taylor Collection: Part I (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Darken, J. (editor). 2003. Horological Masterworks: English 17th century clocks from private collections. London: Antiquarian Horological Society. Dawson, P. G., C. B. Drover and D. W. Parkes. 1994 [1982]. Early English Clocks: A discussion of domestic clocks up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors’ Club Garnier, R. 2018. ‘Fromanteel’s progress: An Anglo-Netherlandish life pushing at the boundaries of mechanical endeavour’ in Garnier, R. and L. Hollis (editors). Innovation & Collaboration: The early development of the pendulum clock in London. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd., pp. 55–79. Garnier, R. and L. Hollis. 2018. Innovation & Collaboration: The early development of the pendulum clock in London. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Gwynn, P. 1990. The Gwynn collection of Clocks, Vol. 5. Privately published. Hayward, J. F. and C. Blair. 1962. ‘The R. T. Gwynn collections: medieval furniture, armour and early clocks’ in The Connoisseur 150/64: 78–91. Hurst, M. 1969. ‘The First Twelve Years of the English Pendulum Clock’ in Antiquarian Horology 6/3: 146–56. Lee, R. 1969. The First Twelve Years of the English Pendulum Clock (loan exhibition catalogue). Loomes, B. 1975. ‘The Fromanteel Story’ in Antiquarian Horology 9/2: 175–185. Plomp, R. 1971. ‘The “Dutch” Extraction of the Fromanteel Family’ in Antiquarian Horology 7/4: 320–327. Ullyett, Kenneth. 2011. British Clocks and Clockmakers. London: British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. Further Reading Ende, H. van der, J. C. Taylor and F. Van Kersen.2004. Huygens’ Legacy: The golden age of the pendulum clock (Exhibition Catalogue). Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Fabian, L. 1977. Could It Have Been Wren? London: The Antiquarian Horological Society. Plomp, R. 1979. Spring-driven Dutch pendulum clocks 1637–1710. Schiedam: Interbook International. Pohancenik, R. May 2010. ‘Who invented the pendulum clock?’ in Country Life Magazine.
