![Clock, 1851–19001601–1700 (XVII) [Cronologia_1] — view 1 of 1](/__l5e/assets-v1/7f7a6a50-972f-455d-8405-e33431ee68b8/clock-1851-19001601-1700-xvii-cronologia-1-128679-1.jpg)
Clocks · Clock
Clock, 1851–19001601–1700 (XVII) [Cronologia_1]
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1851–19001601–1700 (XVII) [Cronologia_1]
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- Europa
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Bronce Plata Cristal de roca
- Dimensions
- Altura = 84 mm Anchura = 117 mm
- Holding institution
- Lázaro Galdiano Museum
- Accession / object no.
- pages_Main_idt_125467_inventary_02042_table_FMUS_museum_MLGM
- Credit line
- Lázaro Galdiano Museum
- Catalogue title (original)
- Reloj de mesa - Reloj (Spanish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Lázaro Galdiano Museum (object number pages_Main_idt_125467_inventary_02042_table_FMUS_museum_MLGM), this is a clock, made in Europa, dated 1851–19001601–1700 (XVII) [Cronologia_1]. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Bronce Plata Cristal de roca. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 84 mm Anchura = 117 mm. 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 Lázaro Galdiano Museum
Reloj de sobremesa de bronce y plata dorada con esfera horizontal. Sobre cuatro leones se apoya una base cincelada compuesta por un mascarón central entre dos guirnaldas de flores y frutos rematados por acantos. Sobre ésta se levanta un polígono de ocho caras enmarcadas y alternadas, de plata cincelada, calada y cristal de roca; todo ello con decoración de roleos y tornapuntas entre follaje. En la parte superior se aloja un mostrador anular de plata con numeración romana, enmarcado por un bisel cincelado y con su centro decorado con tema floral. Máquina de platinas circulares con porta-escape de cilindro y motor a resorte de ocho días cuerda. Este movimiento no es el original, es un acoplamiento del siglo XIX de procedencia francesa. (Colón de Carvajal)
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
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance 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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