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Clock by Petter Ernst, Sweden, 1760–1769

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Petter Ernst (Maker)
Date
1760–1769
Country of origin
Sweden
Place
Sverige Stockholm Stockholm
Object type
Clock
Materials / technique
Glas
Dimensions
Bredd 330.0 Millimeter
Holding institution
Skansen
Accession / object no.
SKANM.0074609
Credit line
Skansen
Catalogue title (original)
Ur (Swedish)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Skansen (object number SKANM.0074609), this is a clock by Petter Ernst, made in Sverige Stockholm Stockholm, Sweden, dated 1760–1769. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Glas. Recorded dimensions: Bredd 330.0 Millimeter. The record is illustrated with 5 photographs.

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 Skansen

Bordsur, rokoko, med pendel och slagverk, rundad form med insvängd midja och fyra svängda fötter och plan överdel. Fanérat foder av valnöt med beslag av förgylld mässing i form av rocailler och växter. På krönet en amorin med pilbåge i friskulptur sittande på ett klot. Smala glas på sidorna, trälucka på baksidan och ovanför denna ett genombrutet galler av mässing som följer krönets form Rund vitmålad urtavla bakom kupigt täckglas med romerska och arabiska siffror och förgyllda visare. Urtavlan märkt: Petter Ernst, Stockholm No 799. Bordsur, tillverkat av Petter Ernst, Stockholm på 1760-talet. Inköpt av Nordiska museet 1892-06 på auktion efter Christian Hammer, Köln

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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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.

Read next:Verge escapementAnchor (recoil) escapementFoliot

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