Skip to content
Clock, 1834–1866 (Siglo XIX, hacia comienzos de — view 1 of 1
View 1 of 1 · Image: Cerralbo Museum · original image source (opens another website in a new tab)

Clocks · Clock

Clock, 1834–1866 (Siglo XIX, hacia comienzos de

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Unrecorded in source
Date
1834–1866 (Siglo XIX, hacia comienzos del segundo tercio)
Country of origin
Unrecorded in source
Place
Francia
Object type
Clock
Materials / technique
Bronce
Dimensions
Altura = 49 cm Anchura = 35 cm Profundidad = 12,50 cm
Holding institution
Cerralbo Museum
Accession / object no.
pages_Main_idt_33153_inventary_VH_0963_table_FMUS_museum_MCM
Credit line
Cerralbo Museum
Catalogue title (original)
Reloj (Spanish)

View the source record ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Held and catalogued by Cerralbo Museum (object number pages_Main_idt_33153_inventary_VH_0963_table_FMUS_museum_MCM), this is a clock, made in Francia, dated 1834–1866 (Siglo XIX, hacia comienzos del segundo tercio). The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Bronce. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 49 cm Anchura = 35 cm Profundidad = 12,50 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 Cerralbo Museum

Reloj de sobremesa con caja de bronce dorado, que consta de un pedestal, en el que se representa, en bajorrelieve, un batel chino, que discurre por un río, impulsado por el barquero. Sobre él se encuentra la esfera del reloj, con sector horario de numeración romana, en la que se apoya la figura de una joven china.

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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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

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

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.

Read next:Verge escapementAnchor (recoil) escapementFoliot

Related records