Skip to content
Watch MuseumHorology Atlas
Mantel clock, Italy, early 18th century — view 1 of 1
View 1 of 1 · Image: © Museo Galileo, Florence · original image source (opens another website in a new tab)

Clocks · Mantel clock

Mantel clock, Italy, early 18th century

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Unrecorded in source
Date
early 18th century
Historical period
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Country of origin
Italy
Place
Central Italy
Object type
Mantel clock
Materials / technique
wood, glass, brass
Dimensions
185x110x290 mm; dial 100x950 mm
Holding institution
Museo Galileo, Florence
Accession / object no.
Inv. 3584
Credit line
Museo Galileo, Florence
Catalogue title (original)
Mantel clock (English)

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

Record summary

Held and catalogued by Museo Galileo, Florence (object number Inv. 3584), this is a mantel clock, made in Central Italy, dated early 18th century. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: wood, glass, brass. Recorded dimensions: 185x110x290 mm; dial 100x950 mm. 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 — Museo Galileo

This mantel clock is housed in a dark-varnished wooden case with glass doors. There is a dial displaying the hours from I to XII, a minute ring with Arabic numerals and, at the center, a small disk for setting the alarm. The hour hand is missing. The going train is driven by a spring with barrel and fusee. There is a verge escapement with a contrate wheel and a small pendulum integral with the latter. The alarm, driven by a spring and contrate wheel, activates the two-headed hammer that strikes the bell from inside above the movement. The case style resembles that of certain English models usually known as bracket clocks , and the clock's ease of use made it quite practical for domestic purposes.

Historical context

Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)

Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.

Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology

Atlas type guide

Mantel and French pendule clocks

The mantel clock — the French pendule de cheminée — is as much decorative art as timekeeper. From the late seventeenth century Parisian clockmakers worked with cabinet-makers, bronze founders and gilders (ciseleurs-doreurs) to create cases in Boulle marquetry, gilt bronze and marble, while the movements were often supplied by specialist makers. Clocks of the Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI periods, and Empire clocks with allegorical figures, set fashions copied across Europe.

The nineteenth century industrialised the type. The 'Paris movement', a standardised round movement with silk-thread or Brocot suspension and count-wheel striking, was made in huge numbers by firms such as Japy and Vincenti, and fitted into cases of every style and material.

What to look for

  • Round 'Paris' movements with makers' stamps (e.g. Japy Frères, Vincenti, S. Marti) and medal marks from exhibitions.
  • Suspension type: silk thread (earlier) or Brocot adjustable suspension (after c. 1840).
  • Visible Brocot escapement on the dial in later clocks.
  • Fire-gilt (mercury) gilding on bronzes versus later electro-gilding.
  • Signed dials naming a retailer rather than the movement maker.

Dating clues

  • Silk-suspension Paris movements: c. 1800–1850.
  • Brocot suspension and visible escapements: after c. 1840.
  • Exhibition medal stamps on movements give dates after the medal year.

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) escapement

Related records

Bracket clock, Italian, 1680–1690,"Petrus Thomas Campanus Romae".

Clocks · 1680–1690

Bracket clock, Italian, 1680–1690,"Petrus Thomas Campanus Romae".

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Florentine court cabinet and clock by Giovanni Battista Foggini, Italy, 1704–1705

Clocks · 1704–1705

Florentine court cabinet and clock by Giovanni Battista Foggini, Italy, 1704–1705

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Clock, Italy, 17th century

Clocks · 17th century

Clock, Italy, 17th century

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Table clock, Italy, late 1600s-first half of the 1700s

Clocks · late 1600s-first half of the 1700s

Table clock, Italy, late 1600s-first half of the 1700s

Suomen kansallismuseo

Clock by Giuseppe de Lellis, Italy, 1678

Clocks · 1678

Clock by Giuseppe de Lellis, Italy, 1678

National Museum of Decorative Arts

Clock by Reloj de colgar: Coquerel, Jean, Italy, Reloj de sobremesa:1690[ca]Reloj de bols

Clocks · Reloj de sobremesa:c. 1690Reloj de bolsillo:1701–1775

Clock by Reloj de colgar: Coquerel, Jean, Italy, Reloj de sobremesa:1690[ca]Reloj de bols

National Museum of Decorative Arts

"Perpetual motion" clock, Italy, c. 1660-1680

Clocks · c. 1660-1680

"Perpetual motion" clock, Italy, c. 1660-1680

Museo Galileo, Florence

Wall bracket clock by Giovanni Baptista de Albertis

Clocks · 1685

Wall bracket clock by Giovanni Baptista de Albertis

British Museum