Clocks · Clock
Clock, 1801–1833 (Primer tercio del siglo XIX)
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1801–1833 (Primer tercio del siglo XIX)
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- Francia
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Bronce Metal Porcelana
- Dimensions
- Altura = 55 cm Anchura = 20 cm Profundidad = 12 cm
- Holding institution
- National Museum of Romanticism
- Accession / object no.
- pages_Main_idt_14546_inventary_CE7400_table_FMUS_museum_MNR
- Credit line
- National Museum of Romanticism
- Catalogue title (original)
- Reloj (Spanish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by National Museum of Romanticism (object number pages_Main_idt_14546_inventary_CE7400_table_FMUS_museum_MNR), this is a clock, made in Francia, dated 1801–1833 (Primer tercio del siglo XIX). The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Bronce Metal Porcelana. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 55 cm Anchura = 20 cm Profundidad = 12 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 National Museum of Romanticism
Reloj de sobremesa en bronce dorado. Maquinaria del tipo París. Motor a resorte con ocho días de cuerda. Escape de áncora con péndulo compensado de varillas. Suspensión de cuchilla, sonería de horas y medias, por sistema de rueda contadera, sobre campana. Sobre zócalo rectangular, caja en forma de lira que aloja entre sus brazos la esfera del reloj. Los extremos de la lira rematan en estilizadas cabezas de cisnes y cabeza infantil alada en el centro. La base, la caja y los brazos de la lira se decoran con cenefas de motivos vegetales. En el plinto, friso en altorrelieve con guirnalda floral con dos insectos alados. Esfera de bronce con doce cartuchos de porcelana blanca para las horas, en números romanos pintados en negro. Dos bocallaves. En el campo, decoración de cenefas con motivos florales e insectos alados. Este reloj de lira pertenece a una tipología que surge en Francia a finales del siglo XVIII, coincidiendo su desarrollo con el movimiento del Neoclasicismo durante el primer tercio del siglo XIX. De ahí que se pueda contextualizar dentro del estilo Imperio (1800-1830), junto a otros relojes del Museo del Romanticismo (Inv. CE0244, CE0243, CE0860 y CE7418). Considerado continuación del estilo Luis XVI, el estilo Imperio aparece en el empleo de ricos materiales trabajados con gran perfección técnica y en el repertorio decorativo impuesto por el emperador Napoleón. Se conjugan los motivos de tipo vegetal y animal (la flor de papiro y el cisne) con el instrumento musical clásico por excelencia (la lira), entroncándolos con la historia y la mitología greco-romanas. Se abandona la ostentación del lujo de formas anteriores para adaptar esta línea basada en la máxima sencillez y en la simetría, de ahí las péndolas en forma de lira o de jarrón. Relojes de lira con maquinaria francesa similares a éste se pueden encontrar en las colecciones públicas, aunque la mayoría combinan el bronce dorado con otros materiales: Palacio Real del Pardo (Inv. 10069631 y 10069965) y Palacio Real de Madrid (Inv. 10003653).
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
Domestic clocks
A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.
Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.
What to look for
- How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
- The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
- Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
- The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
- Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.
Dating clues
- Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
- Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
- Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.
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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