Clocks · Bracket clock
Bracket clock by Jacob Schulz, 1740–1760
- Maker / attribution
- Jacob Schulz (Created)
- Date
- 1740–1760
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- Esslingen am Neckar
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- Eisen, Kupfer, getrieben, farbig gefasst
- Dimensions
- H 37,8 cm, B 30 cm; T 7,5 cm
- Holding institution
- Stadtmuseum im Gelben Haus Esslingen
- Accession / object no.
- STME 004036
- Credit line
- Stadtmuseum im Gelben Haus Esslingen
- Catalogue title (original)
- Stutzuhr (German)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Stadtmuseum im Gelben Haus Esslingen (object number STME 004036), this is a bracket clock by Jacob Schulz, made in Esslingen am Neckar, dated 1740–1760. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Eisen, Kupfer, getrieben, farbig gefasst. Recorded dimensions: H 37,8 cm, B 30 cm; T 7,5 cm. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.
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 from Stadtmuseum im Gelben Haus Esslingen (German)
Uhren waren Statussymbol der häuslichen Ausstattung und nicht unbedingt notwendig um Zeit abzulesen, da auch im 18. Jahrhundert noch der natürliche Tageslauf das Leben bestimmte. Das getriebene Zifferblatt der Stutzuhr ist farbig gefasst. Der kupferne Ziffernring trägt römische Zahlen für die Stundenanzeige und arabische für die Minuten. Er ist begrenzt von zwei Voluten, die auf dem Rücken zweier liegenden Löwen fußen. Bekrönt wird die Front von einem doppelköpfigen Adler, der eine Krone trägt und dem Zepter und Schwert zugeordnet sind. Eine Allegorie für das Heilige Römische Reich? Die Uhr hat ein Vorderpendel, ein geschlossenes Spindelwerk mit 1-Tag-Laufwerk und 1/4 Schlagwerk auf zwei Glocken. Die Zeiger sind ersetzt. Der kupferne Ziffernring trägt römische Zahlen für die Stundenanzeige und arabische für die Minuten. Hier findet sich auch der Name des Uhrmachers eingraviert. Der Uhrmacher Jakob Schulz wurde in Wittenberg geboren und absolvierte eine Lehre als Schlosser. Er heiratete 1748 die Esslinger Uhrmacherwitwe Euphrosina Magdalena Stolz. Die Heirat ermöglichte es ihm das Esslinger Bürgerrecht zu erlangen. Verstorben ist Jakob Schulz Anfang 1770 in Esslingen.
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
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
Bracket, table and spring-driven clocks
Spring-driven clocks freed timekeeping from the hanging weight. The coiled mainspring, documented from the fifteenth century, made portable table clocks possible; to even out its declining force, makers used the fusee, a conical pulley connected to the barrel by a gut line or chain. Renaissance table clocks from Augsburg and Nuremberg — drum-shaped, square or tower-shaped in gilt brass — were luxury scientific objects, often with astronomical dials and alarms.
After the pendulum, English makers developed the bracket clock: a wooden case with a carrying handle, a short pendulum with a verge escapement, and often repeating work to sound the hours on demand at night. Later examples use the anchor escapement. In the nineteenth century, 'table clock' became a broad term for spring clocks of every nationality.
What to look for
- A fusee in the movement (cone-shaped pulley) and the type of line — gut or chain.
- Verge escapement with a short bob pendulum, often with a decoratively engraved backplate.
- Repeat cords or buttons that make the clock strike again on demand.
- Gilt-brass engraved cases and horizontal dials on Renaissance pieces.
- Case shapes: inverted bell, bell top, break-arch, lancet or balloon.
Dating clues
- Drum and tower table clocks: c. 1520–1650.
- Ebony veneered English bracket clocks with verge escapements: c. 1670–1800.
- Engraved backplates were usual on English clocks until c. 1800, then generally plain.
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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