Clocks · Clock
Antique Seth Thomas Regulator Clock circa 1900's
- Maker / attribution
- Seth Thomas (maker)
- Date
- c. 1900
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- oak
- Auction house
- LiveAuctioneers auction archive
- Lot
- Item 146850679
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 374, Montana Premier Collector March 4th Auction, North American Auction Co. (2023), via LiveAuctioneers
- Catalogue title (original)
- Antique Seth Thomas Regulator Clock Circa 1900's (English)
View the source record (auction lot) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 146850679), this is a clock by Seth Thomas, made in United States, dated c. 1900. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: oak. 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 — North American Auction Co.
For your consideration is this beautiful antique Seth Thomas Regulator Clock from circa 1900's. The frame of the clock is made with a quarter cut oak finish and has an octagon shape. The face is crafted with painted tin. The Seth Thomas Clock Company began producing clocks in 1813 and since became one of the biggest names in hand winding clocks. Overall, the clock shows good aesthetic, and mechanical condition. The clock is accompanied by two winding keys, It measures 21 1/2" H x 14 1/4" W x 4 3/4" D.
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
Between 1900 and 1945 clocks were electrified: master-clock systems ran factories and offices, synchronous mains clocks entered homes, and the Shortt free-pendulum clock set new standards of accuracy before the first quartz clocks (1927). Art Deco design reshaped mantel and table clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Regulators, wall and Vienna clocks
A regulator is a precision pendulum clock used as a time standard in observatories, workshops and railway offices. Typical features are a deadbeat or Graham escapement, a temperature-compensated pendulum (mercury jar, gridiron or later invar), maintaining power and a regulator dial that separates hours, minutes and seconds. George Graham's deadbeat escapement (c. 1715) and his mercury pendulum, together with Harrison's gridiron, set the pattern for two centuries.
Wall clocks span a much wider range: the elegant Viennese Laterndluhr and Dachluhr of the Biedermeier period, the Dutch stoelklok and staartklok, English 'dial' clocks used in schools, offices and railway stations, and mass-produced spring and weight wall clocks from Germany (Gustav Becker, Junghans, Kienzle) and America.
What to look for
- Deadbeat escapement and compensated pendulum (gridiron rods, mercury jar or wood rod).
- A regulator dial with a large central minute hand and separate hour and seconds dials.
- Vienna regulators: glazed cases, slender pendulum, small weights, enamel two-piece dials.
- German factory trademarks stamped on the backplate (e.g. Gustav Becker anchor and crown, Junghans star).
Dating clues
- Graham-type deadbeat regulators: from c. 1720.
- Viennese Laterndluhr: c. 1800–1850.
- German factory 'Vienna-style' regulators: c. 1870–1930; Gustav Becker serial numbers allow close dating.
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:Deadbeat escapementAnchor (recoil) escapementGrasshopper escapement
Related records
Clocks · c. 1942
Clock, zig zag by Seth Thomas
Royal Museums Greenwich
Clocks · c. 1900
Ship's bulkhead clock by Seth Thomas
Royal Museums Greenwich
Clocks · c. 1820
Shelf clock by Seth Thomas, United States, c. 1820
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Clocks · c. 1886
Seth Thomas Regulator No. 15, Tall Case Clock, c. 1886
LiveAuctioneers auction archive
Clocks · 1905–1919
Mantel clock given by President Theodore Roosevelt to William L. Houston, United States, 1905–1919
National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
Clocks · 1920–2013
Bank clock and sign of the Citizens Savings Bank & Trust Co., Nashville, 1920–2013
National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
Clocks · 1925–1940
Brown phenolic electric digital clock with `TELE-VISION' on the face. Made by Penwood Numechron Co., U.S.A., c. 1930. Art Deco design.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1934
Synchronous mains electric clock of the self-starting type, with digital display. Made by The Westinghouse Electric Supply Co. USA. Early c.1934's
Science Museum Group, London