George III Scottish Mahogany Longcase Clock by Alexander Leith

• Spandrel - An architectural term that in horology refers to the triangular ornamental decoration in the corners of of the dial plate. The spandrels are usually of cast brass and may be additonally chased and engraved. On painted dial clocks the spandrels are also usually painted.
• George Iii - George III (1738 - 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820.
• Foliate - Decorated with leaves or leaf-like forms.
• Movement - The technical name for the workings of a clock or watch, and does not include the dial or case.
• Date Aperture - A date aperture is a cut out section in the face of a watch or clock, displaying the day of the month.
• Subsidiary Dial - On a clock or watch, a subsidiary dial, also called an auxiliary dial, is a dial that is secondary to the main dial and may show seconds, day of the week or month, or strike silent. A subsidiary dial may be within our outside the main dial, and a clock or watch may have several subsidiary dials.
• Mahogany - Mahogany is a dense, close grained red-coloured timber from the West Indies and Central America. It was first imported into Europe in the the early 18th century and its use continued through the 19th century. It was popular for furniture making because of its strength, the wide boards available, the distinctive grain on some boards, termed flame mahogany and the rich warm colour of the timber when it was polished.. The "flame" was produced where a limb grew out from the trunk of the tree, and this timber was usually sliced into veneers for feature panels on doors, backs and cornices.
  
  Some terms used to describe mahogany relate to the country from which it originally came, such as "Cuban" mahogany, "Honduras" mahogany etc. However unless the wood has been tested the names assigned are more a selling feature, rather than a true indication of the timber's origin.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• clocks, grandfather / longcase, country of origin - Scottish 28
• clocks, grandfather / longcase, period or age
  • 18th century, mahogany cased 129
  • 19th century, mahogany cased 81