
Clocks · Clock
Clock by Delaunoy, 1815–1830
- Maker / attribution
- Delaunoy (Maker)
- Date
- 1815–1830
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- París
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Bronce Esmalte Latón Acero
- Dimensions
- Altura = 42,70 cm Anchura = 32,60 cm Profundidad = 10,80 cmEsfera de reloj: Diámetro = 10,40 cm
- Holding institution
- National Museum of Decorative Arts
- Accession / object no.
- pages_Main_idt_966_inventary_CE00956_table_FMUS_museum_MNAD
- Credit line
- National Museum of Decorative Arts
- Catalogue title (original)
- Aurora anunciando el nuevo día - Reloj de sobremesa (Spanish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by National Museum of Decorative Arts (object number pages_Main_idt_966_inventary_CE00956_table_FMUS_museum_MNAD), this is a clock by Delaunoy, made in París, 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: Bronce Esmalte Latón Acero. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 42,70 cm Anchura = 32,60 cm Profundidad = 10,80 cmEsfera de reloj: Diámetro = 10,40 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 estilo Imperio. Cuatro pies de bola en cada uno de sus extremos, profusamente labrados. Soportan una caja cuadrangular a modo de plinto. En la parte inferior frontal se muestra una decoración constituida por palmetas estilizadas en su borde inferior, sobre la que hay un relieve donde se representa a la diosa Aurora, montada en un carro tirado por dos polillas y con una antorcha agarrada con su mano derecha, todo ello enmarcado en un fondo campestre y nocturno. Sobre este cuerpo, se eleva en el centro un pedestal longitudinal, con un gallo cincelado en mediorrelieve en su parte inferior, sobre el que se coloca la esfera del reloj. Hecha en bronce dorado, en el que hay representaciones cinceladas, donde aparecen el sol, las estrellas, la luna y las nubes en su centro; mientras que el perímetro está esmaltado en color blanco, con números romanos en esmalte negro para las horas y pequeñas rayas, también en esmalte negro, para los minutos. Carece de las dos agujas y presenta dos bocallaves, también en el centro: uno para la marcha y otro para la sonería de horas. A la izquierda de la esfera, se dispone una figura femenina escultórica de bulto redondo. Porta los mismos atributos que la diosa de la escena mitológica inferior: alas de polilla, antorcha en su mano derecha, peplo y quitón como vestimenta, y con la mano izquierda un manto que cae sobre la parte trasera de la esfera del reloj, en la que se representan las estrellas del cielo. Se sostiene únicamente a la base a través de su pie izquierdo -dejando el derecho en el aire- que se apoya en un conjunto floral y que, a su vez, se eleva sobre una media esfera. A la derecha de la esfera. se erige un pedestal en forma de cubo, sin decoración, sobre el que se dispone un jarrón ornamentado con motivos vegetales cincelados. En su extremo superior, se representa un nido de palomas de bulto redondo, rodeado por una corona, de la que caen, con un movimiento al aire, dos orlas en sus laterales. Maquinaria de tipo París, con platinas redondas y lisas. Presenta dos trenes independientes: de marcha, compuesto por escape de áncora y tenedor, careciendo del péndulo corto; y de sonería de horas y medias, formado por macillo y rueda contadera, faltando en este caso la campana.
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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