Clocks · Clock
Clock by RODRÍGUEZ LOSADA, José Caja: ZULOAGA, Plácido, case 1889; movement c. 1860
- Maker / attribution
- RODRÍGUEZ LOSADA, José Caja: ZULOAGA, Plácido (movement)
- Date
- case 1889; movement c. 1860
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Londres
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Acero Esmalte Piedra dura Oro Platino Hierro
- Dimensions
- Altura = 140 cm Anchura = 42 cm Profundidad = 48 cm
- Holding institution
- National Museum of Science and Technology
- Accession / object no.
- pages_Main_idt_130735_inventary_CE1996_036_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_130735_inventary_CE1996_036_0001_table_FMUS_museum_MUNCYT), this is a clock by RODRÍGUEZ LOSADA, José Caja: ZULOAGA, Plácido, made in Londres, England, dated case 1889; movement c. 1860. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Acero Esmalte Piedra dura Oro Platino Hierro. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 140 cm Anchura = 42 cm Profundidad = 48 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 en una caja en forma de templete o torre, profusamente decorada con relieves de oro cincelado y damasquinado, platino, esmaltes y piedras preciosas. La base del reloj se mantiene en alto sostenida por cuatro patas decoradas con relieves dorados. Entre éstas, y en cada uno de los cuatro lados, pende un remate curvilíneo. Al dorso de uno de ellos aparece una inscripción con las iniciales de Plácido Zuloaga y el año de construcción, 1889. Encima de esta base se alza el paralelepípedo que contiene al reloj, con cuatro columnas adosadas en las esquinas. En las caras más anchas se encuentran las esferas horarias, que son dos, una con números romanos y otra con números arábigos. Alrededor de cada esfera horaria hay elementos decorativos en forma de hoja, de cabeza de genios y de león. Este cuerpo del reloj aparece rematado superiormente por cuatro pináculos unidos por una balaustrada, que rodean a una gran bola elíptica central, sobre la que apoyan cuatro columnas y una pirámide de lapislázuli.
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.
Related records
Clocks · 1830–1870
Wall clock in a papier mâché case with painted decoration. English, mid 19th century.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1840–1900
Alarm clock, mounted on model of coffin with skeleton, probably English, 1840–1900
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1840–1880
Clock dial marked "Potter, Railway Time" with two hands, unknown maker, British, 1840–1880
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1840–1880
Wall Clock in octagonal case with Prince of Wales Feathers above makers name "W. Avison, Railway Time, York", made by William Avison, England, 1840–1880.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1841–1870
Contact bar from electric clock, unsigned, London, England, 1841–1870
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1841–1870
Contactor from electric clock, unsigned, London, England, 1841–1870
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1843–1884
One ivory gothic clock tower & travelling case, by Holtzapffel and Company, London, England, 1843–1884
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1845–1855
Clock by W. H. Darker, England, 1845–1855
Science Museum Group, London