Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by Ajantieto Oy, Finland, 1927
- Maker / attribution
- Ajantieto Oy (maker); Deutsche Uhrenfabrik (maker)
- Date
- 1927
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Finland
- Place
- Finland
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Materials / technique
- wood, metal
- Dimensions
- height 197,00 cm; width 59,00 cm; depth 29,00 cm
- Holding institution
- Lahden museot
- Accession / object no.
- RTMRTME124
- Credit line
- Lahden museot (via Finna)
- Catalogue title (original)
- kello; kaappikello; DUFA (Finnish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Lahden museot (object number RTMRTME124), this is a longcase clock by Ajantieto Oy, made in Finland, dated 1927. 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: wood, metal. Recorded dimensions: height 197,00 cm; width 59,00 cm; depth 29,00 cm. 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
Description — Lahden museot
Pystysuuntainen, jaloilla seisova puinen kaappikello (pitkä heilurikello), jonka yläosa on pyöristetty holvikaaren muotoisesti. Tummaa, petsattua ja lakattua puuta. Kellotaulua ympäröi pyörökaarinen yläosa. Kellon keskiosassa on pitkä, suorakaiteen muotoinen lasiovi, jonka läpi heiluri ja painot näkyvät selvästi. Oven alareunassa on hillitty puinen profiilikoriste. Kaappi lepää vakaalla, suorakaiteen muotoisella jalkaosalla, jonka kulmissa ja reunoilla on matalat, pyöristetyt jalat. Kellotauluna pyöreä, messinkinen taulu, jossa on mustat arabialaiset numerot (1–12) sekä sisäkehällä punaiset 24 tunnin numerot (13–24). Kellotaulussa on koristeelliset, tummat osoittimet sekä valmistajan merkintä (DUFA / Garantiert schlägt). Kellotaulun alapuolella riippuvat kolme sylinterin muotoista, kiiltävää messinkipainoa sekä pitkän tangon päässä oleva messinkinen heilurilinssi. Kaapin sisäpuolelle/takaseinään on kiinnitetty saksalaisen DUFA-tehtaan (Deutsche Uhrenfabrikation) alkuperäinen sinisävyinen paperietiketti, jossa on kellotorni-logo sekä käsin täytettyjä sarjanumero- ja tyyppitietoja. Laitteessa on lisäksi tekstitarra: "Kirkonkellon soitto ennen kirkkolähetyksen alkua annettiin tällä v. 1927 hankitulla kellolla vuosina 1927–1934."
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
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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