John Carmichael wrote << Now here's a thought- All over England I saw
the clock faces on all the churches have only TWO colors (either black
and gold or blue and gold). This leads me to believe that these clock
faces might be made of low temp baked paint enamels and not porcelain.
Does anybody know exactly what the English clock faces are made of? >>
Most (almost all) flat English church clock dials of the type John
refers to are painted and gilded on a flat or convex ground. Others have
a skeleton of cast iron which can be glazed though sometimes it is open
or placed in front of the wall.
The ground is sometimes wood in older clocks (when it hasn't been
replaced by something else - though a surprising number survive from
17th and 18th centuries) or copper, and copper or cast iron (19th-20th
centuries) in newer ones. Occasionally stone is used. The numerals when
gold should be done with 23.5 or 24 carat gold leaf.
Cast iron allows the minute spaces and hour numbers to be definitely as
intended and little subject to the vagaries of the repainter and the
contrast with white or opal glass makes a clear dial which can be
illuminated (as in the Great Clock of Westminster, commonly called "Big
Ben").
Modern dials (post 1960) are usually glass fibre and have sometimes
(wrongly I think) been used to replace older church clock dials - and
for new buildings (especially supermarket clock towers etc).
I do recall seeing one enamel church clock dial in England but can't
remember where - East Anglia perhaps? On the other hand clock dials on
the Continent quite often have enamelled dials. Often these are made in
sections, at least in France.
I hope this is of interest. Are enamelled cast-iron baths relevant to
this discussion (not that I know anything about them?)
Andrew James
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