Clocks · Mantel clock
Mantel clock (pendule)
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1753
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Mantel clock
- Materials / technique
- bronze (metal), gilding (material), porcelain
- Dimensions
- height 52.5 cm x width 34.6 cm x depth 23.5 cm; width 33.5 cm x depth 22.3 cm
- Holding institution
- Rijksmuseum
- Accession / object no.
- BK-17503
- Credit line
- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
- Catalogue title (original)
- Pendule (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Rijksmuseum (object number BK-17503), this is a mantel clock, dated c. 1753. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: bronze (metal), gilding (material), porcelain. Recorded dimensions: height 52.5 cm x width 34.6 cm x depth 23.5 cm; width 33.5 cm x depth 22.3 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
Description — Rijksmuseum (Dutch)
Klok die wordt gedragen door een olifant van polychroom porselein. De olifant staat op een rechthoekig verguld bronzen voetstuk met decoratie van geteld geld, rozetten en guirlandes. Bovenop de klok zit een sultan (afneembaar), en op de nek van de olifant zit een zwarte man. Het porselein is niet gemerkt.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Inscriptions & marks
inscription: ‘Bussot(?) 9bre 1753/ Gadois Tillieris(?) 1837/ Tillierest(?) Gadois 1837/ aout/ M S Gudin(?)’; inscription: ‘Gadois Tilleres 1839/ M Godin(?)’; signature: ‘GUDIN/ A PARIS’; signature: ‘Gudin AParis’
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
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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