Clocks · Clock
Clock by Bruce James Talbert, England, ca. 1865
- Maker / attribution
- Bruce James Talbert (designer); Skidmore's Art Manufactures Co. (makers)
- Date
- ca. 1865
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Coventry, England
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- wood, iron, brass
- Dimensions
- Height: 111 cm; Width: 60.5 cm; Depth: 38.8 cm
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- W.2-1985
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number W.2-1985), this is a clock by Bruce James Talbert, made in Coventry, England, dated ca. 1865. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: wood, iron, brass. Recorded dimensions: Height: 111 cm; Width: 60.5 cm; Depth: 38.8 cm. The record is illustrated with 4 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
V&A — Summary
Object Type This monumental clock is a large version of a bracket clock. It was made in about 1865 and looks like a building, with columns supporting a decorated roof. Both the sturdy construction and the architectural form are examples of the Gothic Revival style. The front is enamelled with patterns inspired by Celtic designs. People Bruce Talbert (1838-1881) was a very successful commercial designer who designed metalwork, furniture, textiles, carpets, wallpapers and stained glass. His influential book, 'Gothic Forms Applied to Furniture, Metal Work and Decoration for Domestic Purposes', published in 1868, illustrated a range of designs in the Gothic Revival style. He worked on both architectural schemes and on furniture for Skidmores of Coventry, prominent manufacturers of architectural metalwork, who made this clock in about 1865. Time The Gothic Revival style was very popular in the 1860s and 1870s in Britain. It is characterised by the use of architectural forms and details, often taken from ecclesiastical sources, for domestic objects. This clock, which looks like a building, shows how commercial designers and manufacturers used the Gothic Revival style.
V&A — Physical description
Decorative clock of painted wood, enamelled painted brass, and topped with wrought and painted ironwork. Signed 'Skidmore Coventry' and inscribed 'TEMPUS FUGIT'
V&A — Object history
Designed by Bruce James Talbert (born in Dundee, 1838, died in London, 1881); made by Skidmore's Art Manufactures, Coventry, West Midlands
V&A gallery label
ENGLISH: 1864-1865 Designed by B.J. Talbert (1838-1881) Made by Skidmore of Coventry Enamelled brass on a carcase of wood Bears the inscription 'Skidmore Coventry', the celebrated firm of metalworkers founded by the talented designer Francis Skidmore. Skidmore also made the elaborate iron railings around the Albert Memorial to Talbert's design. For many years, this clock formed part of the furnishings of Malvern Ladies College.
Inscriptions & marks
Inscribed below clock face TEMPUS FUGIT; on base SKIDMORE COVENTRY
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.
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