Clocks · Wall clock
Drop dial wall clock by Bryson & Son, Dalkeith, c. 1885
- Maker / attribution
- Bryson & Son (maker)
- Date
- c. 1885
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Scotland
- Place
- Dalkeith
- Object type
- Wall clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 12 in (30 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 193
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 193)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Drop Dial Antique Wall Clock by Bryson & Son of Dalkeith (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 193), this is a wall clock by Bryson & Son, made in Dalkeith, Scotland, dated c. 1885. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 12 in (30 cm). 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
Dealer description — P A Oxley
A high quality late 19th century antique mahogany drop dial wall clock. The 8 day duration fusee movement with anchor escapement. The 12" round white dial with Roman numerals and blued steel hands. The mahogany case of good light colour with original carved ears and access doors to the bottom and side of the case. The brass bordered and glazed panel to the front for pendulum viewing. The main glazed door with flat bevelled glass and cast brass bezel with lock to the side. Note: The Bryson family were prolific makers of longcase clocks, watches and indeed wall clocks. They are noted for making high quality Regulators. Maker Bryson & Son of Dalkeith
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
Regulators, wall and Vienna clocks
A regulator is a precision pendulum clock used as a time standard in observatories, workshops and railway offices. Typical features are a deadbeat or Graham escapement, a temperature-compensated pendulum (mercury jar, gridiron or later invar), maintaining power and a regulator dial that separates hours, minutes and seconds. George Graham's deadbeat escapement (c. 1715) and his mercury pendulum, together with Harrison's gridiron, set the pattern for two centuries.
Wall clocks span a much wider range: the elegant Viennese Laterndluhr and Dachluhr of the Biedermeier period, the Dutch stoelklok and staartklok, English 'dial' clocks used in schools, offices and railway stations, and mass-produced spring and weight wall clocks from Germany (Gustav Becker, Junghans, Kienzle) and America.
What to look for
- Deadbeat escapement and compensated pendulum (gridiron rods, mercury jar or wood rod).
- A regulator dial with a large central minute hand and separate hour and seconds dials.
- Vienna regulators: glazed cases, slender pendulum, small weights, enamel two-piece dials.
- German factory trademarks stamped on the backplate (e.g. Gustav Becker anchor and crown, Junghans star).
Dating clues
- Graham-type deadbeat regulators: from c. 1720.
- Viennese Laterndluhr: c. 1800–1850.
- German factory 'Vienna-style' regulators: c. 1870–1930; Gustav Becker serial numbers allow close dating.
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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