
Clocks · Clock
Ansonia Mantel Clock Metal Column Time & Strike Ny, c. 1875
- Maker / attribution
- Ansonia (maker)
- Date
- c. 1875
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- metal
- Auction house
- LiveAuctioneers auction archive
- Lot
- Item 44742297
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 5A, Fine Jewelry, Antiques, Military & Firearms, Imperial Auction (2016), via LiveAuctioneers
- Catalogue title (original)
- ANSONIA MANTEL CLOCK METAL COLUMN TIME & STRIKE NY (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 44742297), this is a clock by Ansonia, made in United States, dated c. 1875. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: metal. 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 — Imperial Auction
313.1 ANSONIA ANTIQUE CLOCK. CIRCA 1875 GOOD VISIBLE CONDITION, AS IS. 16" TALL, 13.5" LONG, 6" WIDE.
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Factory production transformed the clock into an everyday object. American makers (Seth Thomas, Ansonia, Waterbury) and German factories (Junghans, Gustav Becker, Lenzkirch) sold millions of shelf, wall and alarm clocks worldwide; France produced standardised Paris movements and carriage clocks; electric time distribution began.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
Atlas type guide
Mantel and French pendule clocks
The mantel clock — the French pendule de cheminée — is as much decorative art as timekeeper. From the late seventeenth century Parisian clockmakers worked with cabinet-makers, bronze founders and gilders (ciseleurs-doreurs) to create cases in Boulle marquetry, gilt bronze and marble, while the movements were often supplied by specialist makers. Clocks of the Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI periods, and Empire clocks with allegorical figures, set fashions copied across Europe.
The nineteenth century industrialised the type. The 'Paris movement', a standardised round movement with silk-thread or Brocot suspension and count-wheel striking, was made in huge numbers by firms such as Japy and Vincenti, and fitted into cases of every style and material.
What to look for
- Round 'Paris' movements with makers' stamps (e.g. Japy Frères, Vincenti, S. Marti) and medal marks from exhibitions.
- Suspension type: silk thread (earlier) or Brocot adjustable suspension (after c. 1840).
- Visible Brocot escapement on the dial in later clocks.
- Fire-gilt (mercury) gilding on bronzes versus later electro-gilding.
- Signed dials naming a retailer rather than the movement maker.
Dating clues
- Silk-suspension Paris movements: c. 1800–1850.
- Brocot suspension and visible escapements: after c. 1840.
- Exhibition medal stamps on movements give dates after the medal year.
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.
Read next:Anchor (recoil) escapement
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