Clocks · Mantel clock
Mantel clocks by Unidentified, United States, 1905-1919
- Maker / attribution
- Unidentified (Created by); President Theodore Roosevelt, American, 1858 - 1919 (Commissioned by); William Lepre Houston, American, 1870 - 1953 (Received by); Charles Hamilton Houston, American, 1895 - 1951 (Owned by)
- Date
- 1905-1919
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Place
- United States, North and Central America
- Object type
- Mantel clock
- Materials / technique
- glass, metal and marble
- Dimensions
- glass, metal and marble; H x W x D (.4a Clock): 7 × 4 3/8 × 4 3/8 in. (17.8 × 11.2 × 11.2 cm); H x W x D (.4b Stand): 10 × 4 1/2 × 15 1/2 in. (25.4 × 11.4 × 39.4 cm)
- Holding institution
- National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
- Accession / object no.
- 2018.59.4ab
- Credit line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Charles Hamilton Houston, Jr. and Dr. Rosemary Jagus
- Catalogue title (original)
- Nautical clock gifted from Pres. Theodore Roosevelt to William L. Houston
Record summary
Held and catalogued by National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (object number 2018.59.4ab), this is a mantel clock by Unidentified, made in United States, North and Central America, dated 1905-1919. 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: glass, metal and marble. Recorded dimensions: glass, metal and marble; H x W x D (.4a Clock): 7 × 4 3/8 × 4 3/8 in. (17.8 × 11.2 × 11.2 cm); H x W x D (.4b Stand): 10 × 4 1/2 × 15 1/2 in. (25.4 × 11.4 × 39.4 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
A table clock with nautical design gifted from President Theodore Roosevelt to William L. Houston. The clock is comprised of two separate pieces, the clock itself (.4a) and the base (.4b). The bottom of the clock is made of marble resting on four metal pedestals at each corner. The greenish marble is cracked throughout but still intact. The largest feature of the clock is a brass arm on the right side that curves to the left. On the front of the arm is a propeller. The top of the arm has a piece that connects the chain to the block and tackle pulley system that holds up the clock. The clock is spherical and hangs from a post connected to a circle. The circle rests on the hook of the pulley system. The back of the clock is metal and opens on a hinge to show the inner mechanics. The front of the clock is glass with a numbered face. The metal chain connected to the pulley continues through the top circle of an anchor mounted to the marble base and then wraps around a ship's wheel secured to the base just below the hanging clock sphere. Inside the top of the wheel is a compass.
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
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
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