What is the difference between a longcase and a grandfather clock?

Nothing. They are two names for the same weight-driven floor-standing clock, and dealers use both, sometimes in the same title. Longcase appears in around half of the 936 titles on Sellingantiques, grandfather in a smaller share, and long case as a two-word spelling in more than a hundred again.

Are these clocks all actually Georgian?

Not all. The dealers' date field runs from 1700 to 1930, and the later end holds cases described as being in the eighteenth-century or Georgian style rather than of the period. Georgian is used as a date label 321 times, 18th Century 178 times. Only 212 listings carry a clean year, and 1750s is the only decade with real weight behind it.

Which towns are these clocks signed for?

Almost every clock is signed for a place as much as a person. London is named in around a fifth of the titles and dominates the top of the range. The rest reads like a gazetteer: Pwllheli, Llanrwst, Auchtermuchty, Ecclefechan, Uttoxeter, Kirkby Lonsdale, Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Scottish signatures run to about thirty titles, with Wales steady but small, and Guernsey, Jersey and Dublin the rarest origins in the samples.

What does a moon dial do?

It shows the phase of the moon in the arch above the main dial, turning with a rolling disc. Moon appears in 39 titles and moon phase in 18. Tidal and high-water dials, made for Bristol and Liverpool, come up only a handful of times and sit near the very top of the range.

How many Georgian clocks come up for sale?

Around 111 a year, handled by 129 different dealers, which makes it one of the more widely stocked clock categories on Sellingantiques. Longcases account for the bulk of that. Bracket and table clocks are about a fifth, dial and drop-dial wall clocks under a tenth.

Do any of these clocks have moving figures?

A few do, and they sit toward the top of the range whenever they appear. The samples include rocking ships, rocking and swinging Father Time figures, a swinging angel, a pheasant on a wooden dial and a lions-eyes clock. Hooded wall clocks, lantern clocks and tavern clocks each turn up only a few times across the whole archive.

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Antique Georgian Clocks

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A Georgian clock on Sellingantiques is most often a tall weight-driven longcase in oak or mahogany, signed for a town, built to keep time in a hall or parlour.