DOI issue:
Nr. 2-4
DOI article:Mieleszkiewicz, Stefan: Vilnius as a production centre of longcase clocks from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18948#0114
English movement by Frans Wells, '1 placed in a rococo Gdańsk case with
walnut veneer, from the first half of the seventeen sixties. Because of formal
similarities this problem calls for further study.
Important Vilnius clocks were madę after the middle of the eighteenth
century.1' The following clocks can be listed: those from the collection of
Stefan Narębski,38 Association of Art Historians in Warsaw,39 sacristy of the
Bernardine church in Vilnius, probably Michał Jan Jurkiewicz^ clock (ill. 7)40
and a clock with coat of arms of the Ogiński family (ill. 8).41 The cases of the
first two clocks, differing only with veneer (ash in the first case, walnut in
the second), have analogies, like the Ogińskis’ chronometer, in pews and
confessionals of St. John’s church in Vilnius, from around the mid-eighteenth
century. Common features are the pine trunks, the use of bottom, rounding
of the lower parts, the use of veneer of the same thickness and the same figured
veneer pattern, as well as the way of putting the veneer (diagonally on the
frames, mirror, envelope or crossed on the inner surfaces) and a string
bordering. The clock with Oginiec coat of arms, as the mlaid datę shows, was
madę in September 1777, most probably together with a sacristy cupboard
and stalls43 for the Ogińskis’ chapel, renovated in 1778, in St. John’s church
in Vilnius. This clock shows close analogies to the clock from the Radziejowice
pałace.4'1 The furniture from this chapel could be madę in one of carpenter
36 The clock, bought in 1979 from Edmund Bogdanowicz (Edmundas Bogdanovicius) from
Vilnius for the collection of the Klaipeda Museum of Clocks and Watches (Klaipedos Laikrodżiij
Muziejus, inv. no. KLM 0302), in a large case (257.5 x 51.5 x 30 cm) with figured walnut veneer,
cut front corners on three tiers, with cuboidal trunk inserted in a convex plinth, with a head
crowned with a broken-arch ledge and a convex top, around 1762-65. Other Wells’ movements
in local cases are a longcase clock from the Bernardine convent in Cracow, a chronometer in
a Gdańsk inlaid case from the Lesser Giełdziński collection (listed in the auction catalogue from
the Berlin sale of this collection - Sammlung Gieldzinski Danzig, Rudolph Lepke Kunst-Auctions-
Haus, Berlin 1912, ill. 18) and a table longcase clock from the Radziwiłł collection in Nieśwież
(Central Historical Archive in Mińsk, 694/l/chart 503). A longcase clock by Wells can be found
also in the collection of Muzeum Ziemi Rawskiej in Rawa Mazowiecka (inv. no. MZR/S/180);
Frans Gregory Wells - a clockmaker active from around 1760 to 1773.
37 Earlier clocks were not preserved or have not yet been identified.
38 An ash veneer case with a cubicoidal trunk inserted in a convex plinth, with cut front corners,
crowned with broken-arch top; English type movement signed: “William Jourdain/London” on
the dial, around 1760.
39 Both the case and the movement are almost identical with the clock from the Narębskńs
collection; a pine case with walnut veneer, with almost identical dimensions (243 [250] x 58.5
x 28. 5 cm). The difference in height is due to lack of crown in the clock from the Association of
Art Historians.
40 Inventory drawing from 1915 (Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe, inv. no. DI 4270).
41 Discussed and sketched by Narębski; cf. Grzeluk, op. cit., p. 428, ill. 20.
42 The cupboard is kept in the sacristy of the Vilnius cathedral, while the stalls remained in the
Ogińskis’ Chapel.
43 A three-tier clock, with an S-like plinth and a broken-arch top, with a movement signed: “Wm
Jourdain London”. The case is characterised by figured ash veneer forming areas repeating the
contours of different parts, with diagonal bordering. Areas on the trunk’s sides and the wing of
the swing door are decorated with striped veneer, envelop on the plinth, enclosed with a black
string. The case madę of oak, ash and pine. Dimensions: 249.5 x 56.3 cm; inv. no. Radź. XI-3.
108
walnut veneer, from the first half of the seventeen sixties. Because of formal
similarities this problem calls for further study.
Important Vilnius clocks were madę after the middle of the eighteenth
century.1' The following clocks can be listed: those from the collection of
Stefan Narębski,38 Association of Art Historians in Warsaw,39 sacristy of the
Bernardine church in Vilnius, probably Michał Jan Jurkiewicz^ clock (ill. 7)40
and a clock with coat of arms of the Ogiński family (ill. 8).41 The cases of the
first two clocks, differing only with veneer (ash in the first case, walnut in
the second), have analogies, like the Ogińskis’ chronometer, in pews and
confessionals of St. John’s church in Vilnius, from around the mid-eighteenth
century. Common features are the pine trunks, the use of bottom, rounding
of the lower parts, the use of veneer of the same thickness and the same figured
veneer pattern, as well as the way of putting the veneer (diagonally on the
frames, mirror, envelope or crossed on the inner surfaces) and a string
bordering. The clock with Oginiec coat of arms, as the mlaid datę shows, was
madę in September 1777, most probably together with a sacristy cupboard
and stalls43 for the Ogińskis’ chapel, renovated in 1778, in St. John’s church
in Vilnius. This clock shows close analogies to the clock from the Radziejowice
pałace.4'1 The furniture from this chapel could be madę in one of carpenter
36 The clock, bought in 1979 from Edmund Bogdanowicz (Edmundas Bogdanovicius) from
Vilnius for the collection of the Klaipeda Museum of Clocks and Watches (Klaipedos Laikrodżiij
Muziejus, inv. no. KLM 0302), in a large case (257.5 x 51.5 x 30 cm) with figured walnut veneer,
cut front corners on three tiers, with cuboidal trunk inserted in a convex plinth, with a head
crowned with a broken-arch ledge and a convex top, around 1762-65. Other Wells’ movements
in local cases are a longcase clock from the Bernardine convent in Cracow, a chronometer in
a Gdańsk inlaid case from the Lesser Giełdziński collection (listed in the auction catalogue from
the Berlin sale of this collection - Sammlung Gieldzinski Danzig, Rudolph Lepke Kunst-Auctions-
Haus, Berlin 1912, ill. 18) and a table longcase clock from the Radziwiłł collection in Nieśwież
(Central Historical Archive in Mińsk, 694/l/chart 503). A longcase clock by Wells can be found
also in the collection of Muzeum Ziemi Rawskiej in Rawa Mazowiecka (inv. no. MZR/S/180);
Frans Gregory Wells - a clockmaker active from around 1760 to 1773.
37 Earlier clocks were not preserved or have not yet been identified.
38 An ash veneer case with a cubicoidal trunk inserted in a convex plinth, with cut front corners,
crowned with broken-arch top; English type movement signed: “William Jourdain/London” on
the dial, around 1760.
39 Both the case and the movement are almost identical with the clock from the Narębskńs
collection; a pine case with walnut veneer, with almost identical dimensions (243 [250] x 58.5
x 28. 5 cm). The difference in height is due to lack of crown in the clock from the Association of
Art Historians.
40 Inventory drawing from 1915 (Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe, inv. no. DI 4270).
41 Discussed and sketched by Narębski; cf. Grzeluk, op. cit., p. 428, ill. 20.
42 The cupboard is kept in the sacristy of the Vilnius cathedral, while the stalls remained in the
Ogińskis’ Chapel.
43 A three-tier clock, with an S-like plinth and a broken-arch top, with a movement signed: “Wm
Jourdain London”. The case is characterised by figured ash veneer forming areas repeating the
contours of different parts, with diagonal bordering. Areas on the trunk’s sides and the wing of
the swing door are decorated with striped veneer, envelop on the plinth, enclosed with a black
string. The case madę of oak, ash and pine. Dimensions: 249.5 x 56.3 cm; inv. no. Radź. XI-3.
108