Clocks · Clock
Clock by Farret, c. 1855–1880
- Maker / attribution
- Farret (Maker)
- Date
- c. 1855–1880
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- París
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Porcelana Metal Bronce
- Dimensions
- Altura = 65 cm Anchura = 43 cm Profundidad = 1,40 cm
- Holding institution
- National Museum of Decorative Arts
- Accession / object no.
- pages_Main_idt_15635_inventary_CE19107_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_15635_inventary_CE19107_table_FMUS_museum_MNAD), this is a clock by Farret, made in París, dated c. 1855–1880. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Porcelana Metal Bronce. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 65 cm Anchura = 43 cm Profundidad = 1,40 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 estilo Imperio de sobremesa colocado sobre basamento rectangular sustentado por cuatro patas en forma de garras de animal, adornado con símbolos marciales en el frente y en ambos laterales del mismo. Encima de la basa se ha dispuesto un plinto cuadrado que contiene la maquinaría del reloj con la esfera en el frente con decoración en bajorrelieve y sobre éste vemos un casco con alta cimera. Junto a dicho plinto se ha colocado la imagen de un guerrero vestido con coraza, túnica y manto cortos, que represent al héroe griego Aquiles, según dos bajorrelieves que aparecen en los frentes de los basamentos: bajo la caja del reloj, la ninfa Tetis ayudada por otra mujer, está sumergiendo a su hijo pequeño en una caldera con fuego para hacerle inmorta y, en el basamento inferior, Príamo suplica a Aquiles que le devuelva el cuerpo de su hijo Héctor.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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.
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