Clocks · Clock
Clock by Ferdinand Barbedienne, c. 1838–1892
- Maker / attribution
- Ferdinand Barbedienne (designer)
- Date
- c. 1838–1892
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- París
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Mármol Bronce Esmalte Porcelana
- Dimensions
- Altura = 49,20 cm Longitud = 44,30 cm Anchura = 18,50 cm
- Holding institution
- National Museum of Decorative Arts
- Accession / object no.
- pages_Main_idt_5348_inventary_CE05335_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_5348_inventary_CE05335_table_FMUS_museum_MNAD), this is a clock by Ferdinand Barbedienne, made in París, dated c. 1838–1892. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Mármol Bronce Esmalte Porcelana. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 49,20 cm Longitud = 44,30 cm Anchura = 18,50 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 National Museum of Decorative Arts
Reloj con forma de templete realizado en bronce dorado, adornado en las esquinas superiores con cabezas de carnero y colocado sobre una doble peana o basa rectangular con lasesquinas sobresalientes, la superior en bronce dorado y la inferior de mármol blanco sustentada por patas peraltadas igualmente de bronce dorado. En este mismo material se han realizado los adornos en forma de guirnaldas, rosetones y dos palomas centrales que ornamentan la citada peana de mármol. A ambos lados del templete donde se cobija el reloj y sobre la peana superior de bronce, vemos dos figuras de jovenes que se besan realizadas en bronce oscuro pavonado, probablemente una representación de Eros y Psiquis. Esfera de porcelana blanca con cifras horarias árabes y agujas de lámina de metal dorado, caladas, del tipo del Segundo Imperio. Tiene sonerie.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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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