Clocks · Clock
Clock, 'The Greenwich Clock', bone china, silver gilt, transfer printed, Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, Barlaston, ca. 1999
- Maker / attribution
- Josiah Wedgwood and Sons (manufacturers)
- Date
- 1999
- Historical period
- Mechanical Renaissance (1990 – 2010)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Place
- Barlaston
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Bone china, silver gilt, transfer printing
- Dimensions
- Height: 43 mm; Diameter: 74 mm
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- WE.18098-2014
- Credit line
- V&A Wedgwood Collection. Presented by Art Fund with major support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, private donations and a public appeal.
- Catalogue title (original)
- The Greenwich Clock
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number WE.18098-2014), this is a clock by Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, made in Barlaston, dated 1999. The Atlas places it in the Mechanical Renaissance period (1990 – 2010) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Bone china, silver gilt, transfer printing. Recorded dimensions: Height: 43 mm; Diameter: 74 mm. The record is illustrated with 3 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
V&A — Physical description
Clock, bone china and silver gilt with transfer printed decoration; circular and hinged, top side flat, opposite side semi spherical, exterior with blue ground, top decorated with gold and green printed clock with roman numerals, embellished with filigree style motifs and central floral motif, clock encircled by decorative band, opposite side with repeating blue, green and gold swags, circumference with silver band, rims of both sides with silver gilt mounts, interior top side in white with central gold, silver and blue floral motif, opposite side with clock face mounted in silver and silver gilt, clock with green band, text 'WEDGWOOD' and black dials.
Inscriptions & marks
WEDGWOOD(R)' (impressed into metal surround), 'JW 925 anchor symbol' (impressed hallmarks), 'JAPAN MOVEMENT' / 'silcon' / 'ELECTRONICS' / 'Whitby' / 'CHINA CASE' (impressed on clock reverse)
Historical context
Mechanical Renaissance (1990 – 2010)
Mechanical watches return as cultural objects; independent watchmaking flourishes.
Mechanical clocks returned as luxury and craft objects, alongside radio-controlled and designer quartz clocks. Independent makers and restorers revived traditional techniques, and museums increasingly documented industrial and electric clocks as heritage.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Quartz Revolution
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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