Clocks · Clock
Clock by Vincenti & Cie, c. 1855
- Maker / attribution
- Vincenti & Cie (Maker)
- Date
- c. 1855
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- Francia
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Cartón Fibra vegetal Cristal Fibra textil Hilo metálico Porcelana Metal Madera Pigmento Vidrio
- Dimensions
- Altura = 50 cm Anchura = 37 cm Profundidad = 22 cm
- Holding institution
- National Museum of Romanticism
- Accession / object no.
- pages_Main_idt_7294_inventary_CE1563_table_FMUS_museum_MNR
- Credit line
- National Museum of Romanticism
- Catalogue title (original)
- Reloj (Spanish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by National Museum of Romanticism (object number pages_Main_idt_7294_inventary_CE1563_table_FMUS_museum_MNR), this is a clock by Vincenti & Cie, made in Francia, dated c. 1855. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Cartón Fibra vegetal Cristal Fibra textil Hilo metálico Porcelana Metal Madera Pigmento Vidrio. Recorded dimensions: Altura = 50 cm Anchura = 37 cm Profundidad = 22 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 Romanticism
Reloj de sobremesa. Peana de madera ebonizada, de planta rectangular, moldurada. Superficie forrada de terciopelo de color granate. A la izquierda, esfera de porcelana blanca, con horarias en cifras romanas, pintadas en negro. Dos bocallaves. Cerco de ovas en bronce dorado. A la derecha, dos figuras autómatas con cabeza de mono y cuerpo antropomorfo de extremidades articuladas. Cuando se acciona la llave del mueble se produce una escena animada en la que un mono dentista atiende a su paciente que se mueve al ritmo de las notas musicales. Se completa con un fanal de cristal. La maquinaria del reloj presenta la marca de fábrica de la casa Vincenti, que fue premiada con la medalla de plata en la Exposición Universal de París de 1855. Pertenece a la edad de oro de los autómatas (1830-1914), período así conocido por el auge de esta industria en gran parte de Europa. Existen piezas parecidas a la descrita, procedentes del taller de Jean-Marie Phalibois, en las colecciones francesas de Guinness y en las de Jacqueline y Guido Reuge. Por ejemplo, los que incluyen escenas costumbristas de la vida de París y las relacionadas con el mundo del espectáculo, el circo o la magia. Por lo general, las partes de las figuras que están vestidas, no se pintan ni se acaban bien, frente a la buena terminación que presentan los rostros. Los mecanismos de cuerda que hacen posible los movimientos de las cabezas, manos y piernas se ocultan entre los vestidos o en el mueble y se conectan con un dispositivo musical de uno o varios cilindros. Los artículos de París, como se conocen a los juguetes mecánicos en las distintas Exposiciones Universales donde participan, son estos encantadores objetos, producto de la fantasía y el capricho, que incrementan notablemente su demanda a partir de 1850.
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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