Clocks · Clock
Clock, Germany, 1811–1881
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1811–1881
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Germany
- Place
- Schwarzwald
- Object type
- Clock
- Holding institution
- Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe
- Accession / object no.
- item_JXHGTSYLKHIDIBW3JJRGDXVVYXPY7TWO
- Catalogue title (original)
- Augenwenderuhr mit dem Bildnis Friedrich Heckers (German)
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (object number item_JXHGTSYLKHIDIBW3JJRGDXVVYXPY7TWO), this is a clock, made in Schwarzwald, Germany, dated 1811–1881. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. 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 Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (German)
Die Rahmenuhr, ein so genannter Augenwender aus der Biedermeierzeit, zeigt ein Porträt von Friedrich Hecker (1811-1881), dem Führer der Badischen Revolution von 1848/49. Als Rahmenuhren werden Uhren bezeichnet, deren Front nur aus einem Zifferblatt besteht, das wie ein Bild von einer umlaufenden Rahmenleiste eingefasst ist. Der Augenwender ist eine spezielle Form der Rahmenuhr, die vor allem im Schwarzwald hergestellt wurde. Durch die Bewegung des Pendels werden die Augen einer Figur oder eines Gemäldes hin und her bewegt. Hier handelt es sich um Friedrich Hecker im Blousen-Rock und mit Hecker-Hut, der sich sich auf den Ziffernring stützt. Das weiß emaillierte Ziffernblatt ist mit einem Messingreif eingefasst. Die Uhr hat zwei messingummantelte Bleigewichte und ein Kurzpendel an einer Haken-Pendelaufhängung. Durch den Ausschlag des Pendels werden die Augen Friedrich Heckers von rechts nach links bewegt.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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.
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