Clocks · Clock
George Nelson for Howard Miller Echo lll Floor Clock, circa 1970
- Maker / attribution
- Nelson (maker)
- Date
- c. 1970
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- chrome plated steel
- Dimensions
- 56 x 13 x 9 in
- Auction house
- LiveAuctioneers auction archive
- Lot
- Item 232328163
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 58, The Frank and Irene Giuffrida Collection, Treadwell Auctions, LLC (2026), via LiveAuctioneers
- Catalogue title (original)
- George Nelson for Howard Miller Echo lll Floor Clock, Circa 1970 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 232328163), this is a clock by Nelson, made in United States, dated c. 1970. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: chrome plated steel. Recorded dimensions: 56 x 13 x 9 in. 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
Lot description — Treadwell Auctions, LLC
Chrome, lucite, acrylic, metal, red metal clock hands, Howard Miller label under clock face The collection of Frank and Irene Giuffrida, owners of the famous Hilltop Steakhouse, Saugus, MA
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz movements and digital displays made accurate clocks cheap and ubiquitous after the early 1970s. LED and LCD clocks, clock radios and radio-controlled clocks appeared, while traditional mechanical clockmaking contracted sharply in Germany, France and Britain.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Longcase (tall-case or grandfather) clocks
The longcase clock was born from two seventeenth-century innovations: Christiaan Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) and the anchor escapement (c. 1670). A long seconds pendulum, nearly a metre long, swings with a small arc, and enclosing it together with the driving weights in a tall wooden case protected the mechanism and created a new piece of furniture. London makers such as Ahasuerus Fromanteel, Thomas Tompion and Joseph Knibb set the pattern.
By the eighteenth century longcase clocks were made throughout Britain, the Netherlands, Scandinavia (the Swedish Mora clock), France (the Comtoise from the Franche-Comté), Germany and colonial America. Eight-day movements with two weights became standard in better clocks; thirty-hour clocks with one weight and a rope or chain were cheaper alternatives.
What to look for
- Winding holes in the dial: two (eight-day, going and striking) or none (thirty-hour, pulled up by a chain).
- Brass dials with applied chapter rings (earlier) versus painted iron 'white' dials (after c. 1770 in Britain).
- Moon-phase arches, date apertures, seconds dials and maker's name on the dial.
- Case woods and style: ebonised, walnut marquetry, lacquer, oak or mahogany; regional styles from London, Lancashire, Scotland or America.
- Whether the movement and dial match the case — 'marriages' are common.
Dating clues
- Square brass dials suggest c. 1670–1720; arched brass dials c. 1715–1790.
- Painted (white) dials were made by Birmingham dial-makers from about 1772.
- Comtoise clocks with repoussé pendulums are mostly nineteenth century.
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:Anchor (recoil) escapementDeadbeat escapementAnchor escapement
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