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German Lenzkirch Grandfather Clock Art Noveau 1920 — view 1 of 3
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Clocks · Clock

German Lenzkirch Grandfather Clock Art Noveau 1920

DocumentedDocumented from an auction catalogue; attribution as stated by the auction house.
Maker / attribution
LENZKIRCH (maker)
Date
c. 1920
Historical period
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
Country of origin
Germany
Object type
Clock
Auction house
LiveAuctioneers auction archive
Lot
Item 119562241
Credit line
Auction lot record: lot 2030, Day 2: Estate & Continental Furniture Dec Art, Kamelot Auctions (2022), via LiveAuctioneers
Catalogue title (original)
GERMAN LENZKIRCH GRANDFATHER CLOCK ART NOVEAU 1920 (English)

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

Record summary

Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 119562241), this is a clock by LENZKIRCH, made in Germany, dated c. 1920. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Clocks collection. 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

Lot description — Kamelot Auctions

A German Lenzkirch grandfather glock in the Art Noveau style circa 1920. Combination solid oak and veneer case on platform feet, with beaded trim running vertically on door panel. Base panel has a wood, floral crest with floral trim and dental crown molding on upper half. Two side doors, one door missing small trim. Main door having beveled door glass with lock. Solid brass movement, chimes on the half and full hour on chime rods. Ht: 85" Wd: 18" Dpth: 10"

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

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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