Clocks · Clock
19th C. Gustav Becker Carved Walnut Tall Clock
- Maker / attribution
- Becker (maker)
- Date
- 19th century
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Germany
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- walnut, brass, iron
- Auction house
- Invaluable auction listings
- Lot
- Lot 031947D79E
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 70, Important California Estates Auction, California Auctioneers (2026), via Invaluable
- Catalogue title (original)
- 19th C. Gustav Becker Carved Walnut Tall Clock (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Invaluable auction listings (lot Lot 031947D79E), this is a clock by Becker, made in Germany, dated 19th century. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: walnut, brass, iron. The record is illustrated with 4 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Lot description — California Auctioneers
This 19th-century German longcase clock features a richly carved walnut case decorated with classic architectural elements. Below the cornice, the square hood houses a circular brass dial plate detailed with an all-over etched foliate pattern, pierced iron hands, and large, stylized dark numbers set into individual cartouches. The corners of the dial frame are accented by carved floral spandrels, and the sides of the hood feature integrated rectangular mesh panels for sound projection. The lower plinth stands on rounded bun feet and is decorated with a deep, geometric raised panel flanked by matching fluted corner columns. Movement Details: The mechanical brass movement is an authentic weight-driven assembly bearing production serial number 57855 alongside the definitive "18" (P18) technical stamp, identifying it as a premium Gustav Becker creation. The movement features solid brass plate construction with structural pillar posts, a deadbeat escapement configuration, and smooth line-winding drums. This specific P18 setup designates an 18-centimeter short-vibration pendulum length rather than a standard full-length seconds pendulum, engineered to perfectly fit the clock's architectural open-waist "Vienna Regulator" style cabinet layout.
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern Horology
Atlas type guide
Longcase (tall-case or grandfather) clocks
The longcase clock was born from two seventeenth-century innovations: Christiaan Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) and the anchor escapement (c. 1670). A long seconds pendulum, nearly a metre long, swings with a small arc, and enclosing it together with the driving weights in a tall wooden case protected the mechanism and created a new piece of furniture. London makers such as Ahasuerus Fromanteel, Thomas Tompion and Joseph Knibb set the pattern.
By the eighteenth century longcase clocks were made throughout Britain, the Netherlands, Scandinavia (the Swedish Mora clock), France (the Comtoise from the Franche-Comté), Germany and colonial America. Eight-day movements with two weights became standard in better clocks; thirty-hour clocks with one weight and a rope or chain were cheaper alternatives.
What to look for
- Winding holes in the dial: two (eight-day, going and striking) or none (thirty-hour, pulled up by a chain).
- Brass dials with applied chapter rings (earlier) versus painted iron 'white' dials (after c. 1770 in Britain).
- Moon-phase arches, date apertures, seconds dials and maker's name on the dial.
- Case woods and style: ebonised, walnut marquetry, lacquer, oak or mahogany; regional styles from London, Lancashire, Scotland or America.
- Whether the movement and dial match the case — 'marriages' are common.
Dating clues
- Square brass dials suggest c. 1670–1720; arched brass dials c. 1715–1790.
- Painted (white) dials were made by Birmingham dial-makers from about 1772.
- Comtoise clocks with repoussé pendulums are mostly nineteenth century.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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