Clocks · Bracket clock
Brass cased wall or table clock by Armstrong, Manchester, c. 1870
- Maker / attribution
- Armstrong (maker)
- Date
- c. 1870
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Manchester
- Object type
- Bracket clock
- Materials / technique
- brass
- Dimensions
- Height 16 in (41 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 32
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 32)
- Catalogue title (original)
- An unusual brass cased wall/table clock by Armstrong of Manchester (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 32), this is a bracket clock by Armstrong, made in Manchester, 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: brass. Recorded dimensions: Height 16 in (41 cm). 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
Dealer description — P A Oxley
This clock was quite possibly originally used in a Victorian factory or even part of a shop display. It could be incorporated into an existing wall, hung on the wall, a bespoke wooden case could be made for it or simply sat on a table as a horological oddity and talking point. The 8 day movement is of the highest quality with a single fusee chain driven barrel, an anchor escapement and four large plate pillars. The pendulum is of a cylindrical shape with a solid brass rod. Currently presented in an unrestored but working state. Upon purchasing this clock the movement will be fully overhauled, serviced and guaranteed for 3 years. Delivery available via our fine art carrier anywhere in the UK. A rare survivor from the Industrial Age Note: Thomas Armstrong was the eldest son of Joseph Armstrong a Watchmaker in Manchester. Thomas was a jeweller and silversmith born in January 1829, his shop was located in Deansgate Manchester. His partnership with his brother, George Booth Armstrong began about 1858, taking on the business started by their father Joseph. Thomas Armstrong claimed to be “Inventor and sole Manufacturer of the Improved Watchman’s detector and also of Speed and Steam Clocks. They were also opticians to the Infirmary and Eye Hospital, and Scientific Instrument Makers to the Government. Price includes delivery and 3 year guarantee Maker Armstrong of Manchester
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
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.
Read next:Verge escapement
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