Clocks · Clock
Clock, with seated female figure of Contemplation, designed by Carrier-Belleuse, 1860s
- Maker / attribution
- Albert Carrier-Belleuse (Designer)
- Date
- 1860-1867
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- Paris
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- made of "imitation bronze"
- Dimensions
- Height: 27 in (whole)
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- 763:1, 2-1869
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number 763:1, 2-1869), this is a clock by Albert Carrier-Belleuse, made in Paris, France, dated 1860-1867. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: made of "imitation bronze". Recorded dimensions: Height: 27 in (whole). The record is illustrated with 4 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 — Summary
According to the Art Inventory of objects acquired by the V&A in 1867, this clock, made of "imitation bronze", was designed by "A.Carrier" (Albert Carrier-Belleuse) and bought by the V&A from the Paris Exhibiton of 1867 "as an example of cheapness of manufacture".
V&A — Physical description
Clock comprising female figure of 'Contemplation' in imitation bronze seated on a clock mounted in black marble. CASE: Marble and imitation bronze with draped female figure representing 'Contemplation' DIAL: 12 cm diameter with recessed centre Black enamel chapter ring 2.2 cm broad, with set of applied gilt-metal Roman numerals for the hours. The recessed portion is 7.6 cm diamter with black enamel back, signed in gilt in lower portion:- EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE BOY, RANVIER & CIE, 116 Rue de Turenne PARIS FT A PARIS 1867 The winding holes are surrounded by raised rings inside IIII and VIII. Plain gilt hands. In the upper part of the recessed area a visible Brocot escapement, the cock consisting of a pair of curved gilt arms meeting at the centre. Escape wheel of 33T, the pallets spanning 12T. Jewelled pallets, mounted in a pair of curved arms with pointed ends. MOVEMENT: Movement plates 10.2 cm diameter. Two going barrels. Regulator of Brocot type but pendulum missing. Locking-plate, striking train, with outside count-wheel permitting also a single stroke at the half-hours. Bell mounted outside the backplate.
V&A — Object history
Bought at the Paris International Exhibition, 1867, for £18-0s-0d from Messrs Boy as an example of cheapness of manufacture. Designed by M.A.Carrier later known as Carrier-Belleuse.
Inscriptions & marks
EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE BOY, RANVIER & CIE, 116 Rue de Turenne PARIS FT A PARIS 1867
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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