This is the second feature in the series focusing on the Greatest Horologists You’ve Never Heard Of which showcases the incredible clock and watchmakers that made some of the finest pieces primarily during the Golden Age of English Clock and Watchmaking.
Edward East was one of the most successful and distinguished London clockmakers of the 1600s. He was a shrewd businessman and brilliantly talented artisan who earned the high regard of the rich and famous of society. East made his name against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent times in British history.
Early Life in the City of London
Edward East was born on the 22nd of August 1602 in Southill, Bedfordshire. He was well-educated, and began his training in London, with the guild associated with gold and silversmithing known as the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. Edward’s apprenticeship began in May 1617 under the Master Robert Podmore. In March 1618, his apprenticeship was transferred to Richard Rogers through the Goldsmiths’ Company.
Rogers lived and worked on London’s Fleet Street, a bustling centre of commerce where many famous clock and watchmakers had already set up business. It was in this lively environment that Edward learned how to work with different metals and trained in specialist skills, such as engraving and ornamentation. He also met one of the leading London watchmakers, Edmund Bull (1585-1622), son of the eminent watchmaker and goldsmith John Bull. At some point, East may have worked as an apprentice for Bull, as there is evidence that he travelled with him on a business trip to Holland during this time.
This is one of earliest pieces bearing the name ‘Eduardus East Londini’ made in c.1635. Watches such as this were likely to have been made in East’s Ram Alley near Fleet Street. The dial is engraved inside the hour ring with the birth of Jesus. Above the hour ring is a nude figure of Time with his traditional symbols of a scythe and an hourglass. The movement has a verge escapement and a gut-driven fusee, which regulated the power of the mainspring. The two plates of the movement are held between baluster pillars. The hour ring is in silver, the figures inlaid with black enamel. The case is in the shape of a pear made of rock crystal mounted in gilt brass.
An Opportune Marriage of Convenience
Edward East had accumulated sufficient funds to attract attention and married into an established clockmaking family. His new wife, Anne Bull, was the daughter of clockmaker Edmund Bull – who he’d previously met in Fleet Street – part of the Bull clockmaking business, which started in the 1570s, and had already produced two royal clock makers (Randolph Bull, for Queen Elizabeth I, and his son, Emmanuel Bull, for Prince Henry). Bull was a successful businessman, running clockmaking workshops in the City of London as well as outside its jurisdiction in Ram Alley, just off Fleet Street. Bull was an ideal mentor for East, as he knew how to work around regulations while using the City and its resources to his ultimate advantage.
By 1628, East was promoted to oversee the Bull family workshop in Ram Alley, where he managed manufacturing operations on a large scale. Clearly, the ambitious young watchmaker was an astute businessman from the start, and his choice of wife benefitted his professional career.
Master of Two Guilds
Edward East was a founding member of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers and, in 1632, became the youngest of the ten original Assistants in the Company. The new Guild regulated the clockmaking market to the advantage of the London clockmakers, but it also restricted their business by ensuring they paid their dues and followed certain regulations around foreign workers in exchange for freedom to conduct business in the city.
At this point East was running the Ram Alley workshop, employing many of the foreigners that the Company was trying to control. As his influence and control grew, he became a Warden of the Company in 1638 and Master in 1645 then again during Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth in 1652.
This is the earliest known English grande sonnerie clock and one of the first to have a minute hand. It is the only known collaboration between Edward East and Ahasuerus Fromanteel. The case of the clock is a work of art, and its movement is a masterpiece. This is also an experimental clock, as the minute hand rotates just once every three hours. Thus, the hour is indicated in the hour ring, and the minutes are indicated on the outer minute ring.
The gilt brass case is cubic. Mounted along the length of each corner are two silver caryatids, comprising eight in total. The caryatids are like Inigo Jones’ design for the Queen’s House that dates to around 1637. Fine engravings decorate each of the four sides of the case. Each features an arch, and within each arch is an engraving of single female figure dressed for one of the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Through the Clockmakers’ Company, East continued to invest in new clockmakers and trained eight apprentices between 1643 and 1676. Throughout his career, East never gave up his involvement with the more influential Goldsmiths’ Company, whose financial connections contributed to his continued success through the instability of the English Civil War (1642–1651), the years of the Commonwealth period of England (1649–1660), and the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660.
As the favourite clockmaker of Charles I, it is often assumed that East was an ardent Royalist. The reality was much more complicated, as first and foremost, he was a businessman who prioritised success over political beliefs. Therefore, his politics, which were reasonably fluid, served his practical business interests.
The period leading up to the English Civil War was disastrous for businesses including both the clock/watchmakers and goldsmiths. East would have certainly felt the effect on trade during tumultuous period, however, due to his status in the business, he navigated a successful path that ensured the workshop continued to produce timepieces of the finest quality.
During the Commonwealth period, East’s business prospered. This silver watch made during this time, is in the form of a stylised pomegranate by Edward East, London, c.1650. It has a stylised silver case, shaped like a pomegranate or pumpkin, with casemaker’s mark ‘WF’. The silver chapter ring and rotating gilt calendar ring to the outside is bordered with an engraved surround. It has a finely engraved centre depicting a lakeside scene. The movement has a verge escapement, a pinned balance cock and signed ‘Eduardus East, Londini’.
Not only did East’s business survive the political and economic instability brought on by the English Civil War but he stayed in London throughout the entire period, expanding his business and taking full advantage of opportunities.
This is a stunning gold watch with a red and blue champlevé enamel dial by Edward East made in c.1650. It has a fusee movement with a three-wheel train, verge escapement, pinned on balance cock and ratchet wheel set-up. It is signed ‘Eduardus East Londini’.
The Royal Clockmaker to Charles II
Upon the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, East was appointed to the prestigious role of Royal Horologist to the King. Although this was not necessarily a well-paid position, it granted him royal approval which greatly advanced his status in society and added gloss to his clockmaking dynasty brand.
This spring driven clock by Edward East, London, was made in c.1664 shortly after the restoration of the monarchy. The dial has an applied silvered chapter ring and alarm disc to centre and engraved all over with flowers. Signed ‘Eduardus East Londini’ it has a steel hour hand. The winding holes for going train and alarm-work with the slot at the base allowing the pendulum to be set going. The movement is of three-day duration, has a verge escapement and alarm-work. Both alarm and going barrels are flanged. Plates secured by pins on the backplate. Signed on backplate ‘Eduardus East Londini’.
This is a very early example of a London-made pendulum timepiece with alarm-work. The clock has an outer wooden case enabling it to stand on a table, but almost certainly would have originally hung in an ebony case from the wall.
Despite the new stability which came with the restoration of the monarchy, East and many other London businesses, faced serious disruption during this period. In 1665, London had the worst outbreak of bubonic plague during that century. Then, just as the city was recovering from this, the Great Fire of 1666 decimated London. Two of East’s Fleet Street properties were destroyed in the fire.
The output of East’s workshop included all types of clocks and watches. This Longcase clock has an anchor escapement, eight-days duration, striking on the hour by Edward East London. The oak case, veneered in walnut and floral marquetry, has been altered to fit the movement, which is earlier.
The 9¼-inch brass dial has a narrow-silvered hour circle with minute figures at every 5, engraved spandrels, and is signed ‘Edwardus East Londini’. The two-train movement has count-wheel striking and bolt-and-shutter maintaining power. The movement dates to around 1675 and the case c.1685.
By the 1670s, East’s business was at the height of its fame and his clockmaking dynasty seemed secure. At this time, he was almost 70 and his son James was managing his businesses. He was anything but retired as he was made Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company (equivalent to Master). He’d already served twice as Master of the Clockmakers’ Company. He also placed money in trust with the Company to help clockmakers who needed funding.
East died at the grand old age of 95 and was a wealthy man with a residence in Hampton, Middlesex, among various other properties. He was the longest lived of the early London clockmakers and is arguably one of the most important, influential and successful figures of early British clock and watchmaking.
The next in the next series The Greatest Horologists You’ve Never Heard Of is now available on Worn & Wound.
Hero image: Hero Image: Portrait of Edward East (1602 – c.1697). Artist unknown. The Clockmakers’ Museum/Clarissa Bruce © The Clockmakers’ Charity