Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1977–2008 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
approximately 2,000 photographic slides and 4 boxes of index cards
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Mary Frances Tennant (1927–2018), née Goddard, was a New-York-born painted dial restorer and conservator, and the author of two books on the subject: Longcase Painted Dials: Their History and Restoration (1995) and The Art of the Painted Clock Dial (2009).
Frances specialised in art and dance during her time at the Brearley School in Manhattan, and emigrated to England after her marriage in 1949 to David Alan Tennant, a British Navy officer. They eventually settled at The Stone House in Rossett, Wales, where they set up their studios after David retrained as a horologist, and Frances began applying her artistic skills to the painting of enamels and the restoration of painted clock dials. Using innovative restoration techniques, she always started the restoration process with a record of photographs when the dial was received, and concluded with images of the completely restored dial. Frances contributed to an exhibition on dials held at Prescot Museum and lectured widely on these subjects.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited at AHS by Graham Tennant, Frances’s son, via Keith Scobie Youngs.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This collection comprises over 2,000 framed 35mm colour slides with images of clock dials made mainly but not exclusively by Birmingham makers, taken by Frances Tennant. It also includes four boxes of index cards compiled by her, which were the original finding aids and which have been used in the compilation of this catalogue. The occasionally quirky descriptions of the dials are Frances Tennant's own.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further deposits are expected.
System of arrangement
The collection is arranged into three series
TEN/A: Photographic slides: Birmingham dial makers
TEN/B: Photographic slides: Other dial makers
TEN/C: Index cards
The photographic slides series are further divided into subseries, with each subseries corresponding to a different maker. This reflects Frances Tennant’s original arrangement of the slides.
Originally, the slides were arranged into 25 drawers, with a small number of loose additional slides. The slides were numbered chronologically by the date of image capture, but arranged by dial maker and dial type. This catalogue retains the original numbering: the original slide number is the final element of the reference number.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Original slides are available for public access by prior appointment.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
The slides have been digitised and are available on this catalogue.
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Catalogued in 2024–25 by the AHS Archivist, using a database compiled from the original index cards. Only a part of the slide collection is currently available on this catalogue. More material will be added to it regularly.