Clocks · Astronomical regulator
Astronomical regulator no. 2011 by Edward John Dent & Co
- Maker / attribution
- Edward John Dent & Co. (maker)
- Date
- c. 1870
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Object type
- Astronomical regulator
- Materials / technique
- metal; wood; glass
- Dimensions
- Overall: 1465 x 445 x 220 mm
- Holding institution
- Royal Museums Greenwich
- Accession / object no.
- ZAA0600
- Credit line
- National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
- Catalogue title (original)
- Serial number: 2011 (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Royal Museums Greenwich (object number ZAA0600), this is an astronomical regulator by Edward John Dent & Co., made in England, dated c. 1870. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: metal; wood; glass. Recorded dimensions: Overall: 1465 x 445 x 220 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 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
Catalogue description — Royal Museums Greenwich
An eight-day astronomical regulator signed ‘E DENT & CO 61 STRAND LONDON NO 2011’. It is a conventional weight-driven regulator with a dead-beat escapement and zinc-steel compensated pendulum. It is one of a series of 12 clocks made by Dent specially for the British 'Transit of Venus' expeditions of 1874. Number 2011 went to Kerguelen Island in 1874. After serving again for the 1882 transit, the clock was used for many years at Kew Observatory. The firm of Dent & Co. originated with Edward John Dent (1790–1853), one of the most celebrated of all the 19th century chronometer and precision clock makers. Dent built up a strong relationship with the Astronomer Royal and the Royal Observatory. He received considerable patronage from both. In the 1840s Dent expanded his already healthy business, having no fewer than three London premises. He also founded a turret clock manufactory which would produce one of the most famous clocks in the world, the Great Clock at Westminster, familiarly known as ‘Big Ben’ (actually the name applied to the hour bell). However, the work was only completed after Dent’s death. The firm of Dents continued in business for many years, only finally closing in the 1970s.
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
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.
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