Mouldings Mouldings are a decorative architectural element that act as a framing device for other architectural features. In early clock cases, mouldings are used to provide visual continuity between different planes of the clock case structure, such as the hood and trunk in longcases. The shape of mouldings used for early British longcases is also indicative of how the form of these clocks changed over time. Earlier clocks of the 1650s and 1660s tended to use single convex mouldings. By the 1690s, clockmakers favoured the use of single concave mouldings. The intervening period of the 1670s and 1680s is widely seen as a transitional phase in which moulding styles were mixed. For an example of an early clock case with a single convex throat moulding see the Norfolk Fromanteel, made by Ahaseurus Fromanteel around 1660. For an example of elaborate cross-grained walnut mouldings that sit firmly in the intervening transitional phase, see Joseph Knibb’s Walnut Marquetry–Parquetry Longcase, made around 1675 (exhibited on Clocktime). Its has convex throat mouldings on its hood and D-end cross-grain mouldings on its trunk. The grandiose Year Going Boulle Longcase, made by Daniel Quare around 1695, is another example of a transitional-phase clock case that features both convex and concave mouldings on its hood. The full transition to the use on concave mouldings in later clocks can be seen in the Sidereal Tompion Regulator made by Thomas Tompion and Edward Banger in 1708. Its concave mouldings create a smooth visual line in which the trunk blends seamlessly into the hood and the base. All the above examples are exhibited on Clocktime.
