East was present at the creation of the English longcase clock.  The first pendulum clock was a spring driven short pendulum affair, but the first change the English wrought was to make it weight driven, to improve timekeeping.

(image credit: Old Clocks and Watches & their Makers  7th edition  G. H. Baillie,  Bonanza Books, NY 1956)

This clock has developed a square dial with a narrow chapter ring and spandraled corners, and is housed in an ebonized wood "architectural" case, denoting the angled top.  The weights hang below, but the short pendulum is entirely within the case.

(image credit: The Grandfather Clock  Ernest L. Edwards,  Sherratt and Son Ltd., London 1949)

You can see the characteristics of the early longcase movements: they are long and narrow, with small count wheels (the cam which determines the hour struck) on the exterior of the back plate.  The ebonized case is extremely narrow (too narrow to allow room for a swinging pendulum) and just conceals the weight drop.

Here's an East bracket clock:

(image credit: "Early English Clocks", Dawson, Drover, and Parkes, Baron publishing, 1982)

It's similar, with the small external countwheel.  It is a wider movement, because it needs room for the large, inefficient early mainsprings.  Note the typical East signature.

Here are some even better views of an East bracket clock, including an almost never seen internal view, from my photo files:

This is an ebonized architectural case clock, with it's original ornate winding key.  The clocks winds from the rear, (the base is a turntable), and has a drawer for the key. The dial has apertures for age and phase of the moon, and day of the month calendars.

Here's the back view with early decorative engraving, including on the pendulum endcap and countwheel. The pawl which counts the hours has it's own little bridge, an unusual touch.

Here's an internal view (I promised you something unusual) showing the early mainspring barrels which have their caps pinned on, with lugs protruding through the cap from the sidewall of the barrel. Notice the color difference on the barrel edge to center?  The internal parts are fire gilded! This was (and remains) a really expensive and showy clock.  You also get a peek at the verge escapement on the other plate.

(image credit: arcadianclock.com)

East did make true longcase clocks with long pendulum's and Clement's anchor recoil escapement, discussed last week.

I am not allowed to copy images from the Frick website, but I do urge you to click through to these links to their website to see these two later East longcase clocks with long pendulums.

East Olive Longcase in the Frick Collection
East Walnut Marquetry Longcase in the Frick Collection

This second clock has the pendulum aperture in the lower part of the case, indicating that East was using Clement's typical seconds-and-a-quarter pendulum.

There aren't as many east clocks with long pendulums as you see with other important early makers, because Edward East died in 1699.

Next time: Thomas Tompion, the most famous English clockmaker.

Previously:

Monastic alarms and the beginnings of clockmaking
De Dondi's remarkable astrarium
Early tower clocks
Gothic iron clocks
Rennaisance clocks
Early english lantern clocks
Huygens and the pendulum
Fromanteel's English pendulum clocks
Huygens in Paris
Clement and the recoil escapement