Clocks · Clock
Clock by John ELLICOTT, 1730–1760
- Maker / attribution
- John ELLICOTT (Maker)
- Date
- 1730–1760
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Londres
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Madera Porcelana Vidrio Metal Bronce
- Dimensions
- Altura = 80 cm Anchura = 40,30 cm Profundidad = 24,30 cm
- Holding institution
- National Museum of Science and Technology
- Accession / object no.
- pages_Main_idt_130952_inventary_CE1998_005_0001_table_FMUS_museum_MUNCYT
- Credit line
- National Museum of Science and Technology
- Catalogue title (original)
- Reloj (Spanish)
View the source record ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Held and catalogued by National Museum of Science and Technology (object number pages_Main_idt_130952_inventary_CE1998_005_0001_table_FMUS_museum_MUNCYT), this is a clock by John ELLICOTT, made in Londres, England, dated 1730–1760. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Madera Porcelana Vidrio Metal Bronce. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 80 cm Anchura = 40,30 cm Profundidad = 24,30 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 Science and Technology
Reloj de sobremesa dotado de planisferio, reloj lunar, timbre y sonería, además del calendario con horas, minutos y segundos. La caja es de madera lacada en negro, de forma curva en la parte superior, en la que presenta una suerte de cúpula terminada en un jarrón de bronce. Se halla adornada con molduras de bronce en las esquinas, los bordes y los laterales, en los que presenta asas, siendo también de bronce las patas. En la parte anterior presenta seis esferas: la mayor, en la parte superior, es el planisferio celeste; debajo, la segunda en tamaño, constituye el calendario lunar; tanto a la izquierda como a la derecha de ésta cuenta con dos esferas del mismo tamaño, destinadas a las horas los minutos y los segundos y, debajo de éstas, otras dos de menor tamaño, para el timbre y la sonería. En la parte posterior presenta una ventana que permite observar el mecanismo musical: una campanilla y un cilindro con dientes que acciona los martillos que golpean la sonería. Está acompañado de tres llaves, una de ellas de gran tamaño, con el fin de dar cuerda a los diversos mecanismos.
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.
Related records
Clocks · 1598–1603
Circular table-clock with calendrical and lunar indications made by Nicholas Vallin in London between 1598 and 1603.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1611
English iron lantern clock, with wheel balance, by John Holloway, Market Lavington, Wiltshire, England, 1611.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1630
Lantern clock by Francis Forman, England, 1630
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1632–1640
Turret clock, England, 1632–1640
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1645–1655
Balance-wheel brass lantern clock, with two driving weights and one counterweight, by Thomas Knifton, Cross Keys, Lothbury, London, England, 1645–1655.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · c. 1650
Lantern alarm clock, silver, by David Bouquet, circa 1650
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1650–1660
Lantern clock by Peter Closon, England, 1650–1660
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · c. 1660
Longcase clock, c. 1660, English, made by Ahasuerus Fromanteel
Victoria and Albert Museum, London