Clocks · Clock
Clock, 1815–1830
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1815–1830
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- Francia
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Madera Barniz Bronce Esmalte Acero Latón
- Dimensions
- Altura = 60,50 cm Anchura = 30,60 cm Profundidad = 16,60 cmEsfera de reloj: Diámetro = 17,30 cm
- Holding institution
- National Museum of Decorative Arts
- Accession / object no.
- pages_Main_idt_48091_inventary_PROV_11_393_table_FMUS_museum_MNAD
- Credit line
- National Museum of Decorative Arts
- Catalogue title (original)
- Reloj de sobremesa (Spanish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by National Museum of Decorative Arts (object number pages_Main_idt_48091_inventary_PROV_11_393_table_FMUS_museum_MNAD), this is a clock, made in Francia, dated 1815–1830. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Madera Barniz Bronce Esmalte Acero Latón. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 60,50 cm Anchura = 30,60 cm Profundidad = 16,60 cmEsfera de reloj: Diámetro = 17,30 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 Decorative Arts
Reloj de sobremesa de tipo pórtico hecho en madera barnizada rojiza y bronce dorado. Estos relojes tienen forma de templete clásico con entablamento plano. Presenta cuatro pies achatados en madera sobre los que se sostiene la primera base, la de mayor anchura del ejemplar, de forma rectangular, a la que se le ha incorporado una ornamentación de bronce dorado en forma de cenefa corrida, donde se representan motivos vegetales cincelados, entre las que destacan palmetas y hojas. Sobre esta base, se eleva otra base rectangular de mayor altura, aunque de menor tamaño -debería tener también aplicaciones de bronce en su cara frontal, pero se ha perdido, dejando solo los orificios de ello-, y sobre ella se elevan cuatro columnas de madera -dispuestas dos y dos- con fustes lisos, cuyas basas y capiteles están hechos en bronce dorado cincelado de tipo dórico. Finalmente, las cuatro columnas sostienen un entablamento rectangular de madera, con un primer cuerpo a modo de arquitrabe clásico con añadidos en bronce metálico de tipo vegetal y floral -rosetones y guirnaldas- en su cara principal; luego, aparece una cornisa; y de remate un cuerpo plano y cuadrangular. La esfera del reloj se presenta entre las dos columnas frontales. Está rodeada de una cantonera en forma de orla cubierta de hojas de acanto, teniendo circunscrito un reborde interior de cinta perlada. Tras ello, aparece la esfera propiamente dicha, hecha en bronce dorado y con decoración geométrica y vegetal grabada sobre su superficie. Aparecen números romanos -del I al XII- esmaltados en negro para indicar las horas, dejando los minutos relegados a pequeñas rayas. Cuenta con agujas de latón pavonadas en negro de tipo Breguet -se ha perdido la de los minutos- y dos bocallaves sobre las IIII y las VIII. Su maquinaria se muestra tras la esfera, compuesta por mazo, campana para la sonería, rueda con diferentes muescas para las horas y calibre redondo. Tiene sonería a las en punto y a las y media y carece del péndulo corto que necesita para su movimientos.
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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