Skip to content
Watch MuseumHorology Atlas
French oak electric wall clock timepiece by Bardon, early 20th century — view 1 of 1
View 1 of 1 · Image: Gardiner Houlgate · original image source (opens another website in a new tab)

Clocks · Wall clock

French oak electric wall clock timepiece by Bardon, early 20th century

DocumentedDocumented from an auction catalogue; attribution as stated by the auction house.
Maker / attribution
Bardon (maker)
Date
early 20th century
Historical period
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
Country of origin
France
Object type
Wall clock
Materials / technique
oak
Auction house
Gardiner Houlgate (auction house), Corsham
Lot
Sale 41, lot 1101
Credit line
Auction lot record: lot 1101, Fine Clocks & Related Items, Gardiner Houlgate (21st May 2026)
Catalogue title (original)
French oak electric wall clock timepiece by Bardon, Clichy, early 20th century, circular white enamel dial with Arabic numerals and sweep centre seconds with Breguet type moon hands, the pendulum rod (English)

View the source record (auction lot) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Catalogued by Gardiner Houlgate (auction house), Corsham (lot Sale 41, lot 1101), this is a wall clock by Bardon, made in France, dated early 20th century. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: oak. 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

Lot description — Gardiner Houlgate

French oak electric wall clock timepiece by Bardon, Clichy, early 20th century, circular white enamel dial with Arabic numerals and sweep centre seconds with Breguet type moon hands, the pendulum rod with horseshoe magnet passing over the flat coil, within a rectangular walnut glazed case and white marble slab backboard, 25" x 13" ** Provenance - The Cleater Collection, Christies ex lot 383, 25th Nov 1998 ** From the David Read Collection

Historical context

Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)

The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.

Between 1900 and 1945 clocks were electrified: master-clock systems ran factories and offices, synchronous mains clocks entered homes, and the Shortt free-pendulum clock set new standards of accuracy before the first quartz clocks (1927). Art Deco design reshaped mantel and table clocks.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution

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.

Read next:Deadbeat escapementAnchor (recoil) escapementGrasshopper escapement

Related records

Fery's selfwound clock, with subsidiary pendulum for making contact, by Prof. Charles Fery and C. Beaudouin, Paris, France, 1902–1912.

Clocks · 1902–1912

Fery's selfwound clock, with subsidiary pendulum for making contact, by Prof. Charles Fery and C. Beaudouin, Paris, France, 1902–1912.

Science Museum Group, London

Type A 'Bulle' electric clock, no.6160, with glass shade, made in France but sold by British Horo-Electric Ltd., 109 Kingsway, London, WC, England, 1915–1925.

Clocks · 1915–1925

Type A 'Bulle' electric clock, no.6160, with glass shade, made in France but sold by British Horo-Electric Ltd., 109 Kingsway, London, WC, England, 1915–1925.

Science Museum Group, London

Table clock by Compagnie Générale des Appareils Horo-Electriques, France, c. 1921

Clocks · c. 1921

Table clock by Compagnie Générale des Appareils Horo-Electriques, France, c. 1921

German Clock Museum

Clock by Societe Meridionale D'Industrie, France, 1930–1939

Clocks · 1930–1939

Clock by Societe Meridionale D'Industrie, France, 1930–1939

Science Museum Group, London

Mantel Clock - France, c. 1900

Clocks · c. 1900

Mantel Clock - France, c. 1900

Museums Victoria, Melbourne

Electric Clock - Bulle, France, c. 1925

Clocks · c. 1925

Electric Clock - Bulle, France, c. 1925

Museums Victoria, Melbourne

Mantel Clock - France, c. 1900

Clocks · c. 1900

Mantel Clock - France, c. 1900

Museums Victoria, Melbourne

Mantel Clock - Le Roi, Paris, c. 1900

Clocks · c. 1900

Mantel Clock - Le Roi, Paris, c. 1900

Museums Victoria, Melbourne