Clocks · Wall clock
Mahogany wall clock by James Callow, Ramsey, Isle of Man., c. 1860
- Maker / attribution
- James Callow (maker)
- Date
- c. 1860
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Isle of Man
- Place
- Ramsey, Isle of Man
- Object type
- Wall clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 12 in (30 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 199
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 199)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Mahogany Antique Wall Clock by James Callow of Ramsey, Isle of Man. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 199), this is a wall clock by James Callow, made in Ramsey, Isle of Man, dated c. 1860. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 12 in (30 cm). 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
Dealer description — P A Oxley
A good quality mahogany antique wall clock from the Isle of Man. The 8 day duration single fusee movement with anchor escapement. The 12" round white dial with Roman numerals, blued steel hands and painted with the makers name and location. The mahogany case with access doors to the bottom and the side of the case, the bottom door with a lock. The glazed access door with a flat bevelled glass and brass cast bezel with lock. Note: In the 1851 Census James Callow was 19 years old and listed as a Watchmakers apprentice. By 1861 he is recorded as a Jeweller & Watchmaker working in Parchment Street and Employing 2 boys. Maker James Callow of Ramsey, Isle of Man.
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Factory production transformed the clock into an everyday object. American makers (Seth Thomas, Ansonia, Waterbury) and German factories (Junghans, Gustav Becker, Lenzkirch) sold millions of shelf, wall and alarm clocks worldwide; France produced standardised Paris movements and carriage clocks; electric time distribution began.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
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.
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