BLOG: Japanning

During the eighteenth century, japanned decoration occupied a prominent and highly distinctive place in the ornamentation of British longcase clock cases. As both functional timekeepers and status objects within the domestic interior, longcase clocks offered an ideal vertical surface for elaborate decorative programs. Japanning allowed clockmakers and cabinetmakers to align these imposing forms with the prevailing taste for exoticism, colour, and surface richness, while responding to international influences and local technical constraints.

The introduction of japanned longcase clock cases in Britain followed closely upon the growing availability of East Asian lacquerware imported through the East India Companies from the late seventeenth century onward. Japanese export lacquer, Chinese, black-ground cabinets, and coromandel screens provided key visual precedents, particularly in their use of high-gloss surfaces, gold ornament, and asymmetrical compositions. These imported objects were admired not only for their material luxury but also for their perceived cultural sophistication, qualities that translated effectively to the symbolic role of the longcase clock as a marker of order, learning, and wealth.

Japanned clock cases were typically constructed from softwoods such as deal, which provided a stable substrate for varnishing and reduced cost relative to walnut or mahogany. The surface was carefully prepared with size and ground layers before the application of multiple coats of coloured varnish composed of spirit-based resins such as shellac and copal. Each layer was polished to achieve the depth and reflective gloss associated with true lacquer.

Decorative elements were executed using powdered brass or bronze to simulate gilding, applied with adhesive size and often shaded with oil paints to create tonal variation. On clock cases, raised japanning was particularly effective in framing trunk doors, hood panels, and plinth mouldings, where relief work enhanced architectural emphasis. Clear varnish layers sealed and unified the surface.

While black japanning remained dominant in early examples, green grounds became increasingly fashionable on longcase clock cases from the second quarter of the eighteenth century. The green ground—ranging from muted olive to brighter verdant tones—was especially well suited to the vertical format of the clock, providing a luminous backdrop against which gilt chinoiserie scenes

could unfold across the trunk door. Landscapes with pavilions, flowering trees, birds, and figures were arranged to draw the eye upward, reinforcing the clock’s commanding presence within the room.

- Anthony Beech ACR