Clocks · Carriage clock
Carriage clock by E. W. Streeter, London, c. 1880
- Maker / attribution
- E. W. Streeter (maker)
- Date
- c. 1880
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Carriage clock
- Stock no.
- SKU 457
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 457)
- Catalogue title (original)
- E. W. STREETER. A fine quality French gorge cased carriage clock (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 457), this is a carriage clock by E. W. Streeter, made in London, England, dated c. 1880. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. The record is illustrated with 5 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 — Howard Walwyn
A fine quality French gorge cased carriage clock, the 8-day movement with hour strike and passing strike on the half hour on a gong. There is also a push button for repeating the hours on the top front cornice and a subsidiary alarm dial at the main chapter ring. The rectangular white 2 ½ inch porcelain dial has Roman numerals and Arabic five minute markers in an outer band. The dial is signed by the retailer EW Streeter , London below XII and it retains its original finely tapering blued steel pointers. The original silvered platform is stamped JS for the maker Joseph Soldano and numbered 1021. The backplate is also faintly stamped Medaille d’or 1827 below the winding arbor for the alarm work. Height : 5 in (12.75 cm) Width : 3 in (7.5 cm) Depth : 2 ⅝ in (6.75 cm) HW6079
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
Carriage and travel clocks
The carriage clock is a portable spring clock with a balance-wheel escapement and a brass case with glass panels and a carrying handle. Abraham-Louis Breguet made early examples around 1800, and from the 1830s Paul Garnier and other French makers industrialised production, with the small towns of Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont and the Franche-Comté supplying movements for retailers worldwide.
Typical features include a platform escapement mounted horizontally on top of the movement (usually a lever, sometimes cylinder or Garnier's chaff-cutter), striking or repeating work, and alarms. English carriage clocks, generally larger and with fusees, were made by firms such as Frodsham and Dent. Travel clocks in folding leather cases became popular in the twentieth century.
What to look for
- A platform escapement visible through the top glass.
- Case styles: corniche, gorge, anglaise, obis or engraved cases.
- Repeat buttons on top and strike/silent levers.
- Stamps of movement makers (e.g. Drocourt, Jacot, Margaine, Richard & Co.) on the backplate.
Dating clues
- Early carriage clocks with Breguet or Garnier features: c. 1800–1850.
- Mass-produced French carriage clocks: c. 1850–1914.
- Folding travel clocks and alarm travel clocks: mostly 1920–1970.
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:Detached lever escapement
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