Clocks · Longcase clock
Longcase clock by August Gehrig, Germany, 1800–1899
- Maker / attribution
- August Gehrig (creator); Emilian Wehrle (creator); Uhrenfabrik Lenzkirch (creator); Hermann Götz (creator); Trompeteruhrenfabrik Emilian Wehrle & Co. (creator)
- Date
- 1800–1899
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Germany
- Place
- Germany
- Object type
- Longcase clock
- Holding institution
- Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe
- Accession / object no.
- item_6T2R2EIXRJV33HHENJTA6T3HZSCB5O2P
- Catalogue title (original)
- Standuhr: Scheffels "Trompeter von Säckingen" (German)
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (object number item_6T2R2EIXRJV33HHENJTA6T3HZSCB5O2P), this is a longcase clock by August Gehrig, made in Germany, dated 1800–1899. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. 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
Catalogue description from Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (German)
Schwarzwaldromantik und Gründerzeitarchitektur verbinden sich in dieser außergewöhnlichen Standuhr. Sie wurde durch aufwendige Details und unter Verwendung unterschiedlichster Materialen kunstvoll zu einem Denkmal des badischen literarischen "Nationalhelden" Joseph Victor von Scheffel (1826-1886). Der dekorative und vor allem der bildliche Bestand nimmt Bezug auf dessen populäre Verserzählung "Der Trompeter von Säkkingen" (1854), die kurz vor Entstehung der Uhr 1884 von V. E. Nessler vertont wurde. Die Malereien, mit H. Götz signiert, setzen Motive aus dem "9. Stück" ins Bild. Das Kapitel erzählt von der Wirkung der Musik auf die Seele des Menschen und davon, dass Liebe der "geschwindeste" Lehrer sei. Das Hauptbild nach einer Illustration von Anton von Werner schildert, wie Margarethe, die Angebetete des Trompeters, sein Instrument in einer Gartenlaube liegen sieht und es ausprobiert. Auch das Porträt und der Name des Katers Hiddigeigei aus der Erzählung und ein Ausspruch des Tieres zieren die Uhr. Darunter befindet sich ein drittes Motiv aus dem Stück: zwei flammende Herzen, die von einem blasenden Engelsköpfchen angefacht werden. Die Uhr wurde 1887 auf der "Konkurrenz-Ausstellung deutscher Kunstschmiede-Arbeiten in Karlsruhe" präsentiert und gelangte dann in großherzoglichen Besitz.
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
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern 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.
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