Clocks · Clock
Pewter and enamel, "Tudric range, Honesty design" Birmingham ca.1905, made by W.H. Haseler, designed by Archibald Knox.
- Maker / attribution
- Archibald Knox (designer); W. H. Haseler (maker)
- Date
- ca. 1905
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Birmingham
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- Pewter, with enamel decoration
- Dimensions
- Height: 33 cm; Width: 16.6 cm; Depth: 8 cm
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- CIRC.913&A-1967
- Credit line
- Given by Mr Martin Battersby
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number CIRC.913&A-1967), this is a clock by Archibald Knox, made in Birmingham, England, dated ca. 1905. 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: Pewter, with enamel decoration. Recorded dimensions: Height: 33 cm; Width: 16.6 cm; Depth: 8 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
V&A — Summary
Object Type Archibald Knox (1864-1933) designed a number of clocks for the London retailer Liberty & Co. from 1902 onwards. The style of his clock designs for the 'Tudric' range in pewter were similar to those in silver. Enamel details on copper plaques were, however, more commonly associated with pewter pieces. Design & Designing The designs for the 'Tudric' range, as with Liberty's 'Cymric' range of silver and jewellery, were supplied by the Silver Studio. The Studio had offices in Brook Green, Hammersmith, London. Attributing individual designs of Liberty's wares to particular designers was hampered by Liberty's policy of concealing their identities. Nonetheless, subsequent research has identified the principal contributors. From the Silver Studio they included Rex Silver (1879-1965), the head of the Studio after 1896, his brother Harry Silver (1882-1972), Harry Napper (1860-1930) and John Illingworth Kay. The most prominent, however, was Archibald Knox, a gifted designer from the Isle of Man who started working for the Studio in 1898. Manufacturer W.H. Haseler of Birmingham, a firm of manufacturing goldsmiths and jewellers, manufactured the 'Tudric' range. The firm had formed a partnership with Liberty's in May 1901 to manufacture the 'Cymric' range of silver and jewellery, which Liberty had launched in 1899.
V&A — Object history
Designed by Archibald Knox (born in Cronkbourne, Tromode, Isle of Man, 1864, died in Douglas, Isle of Man, 1933) and made by W.H. Haseler in Birmingham, England for Liberty & Co., London
V&A gallery label
British Galleries: TUDRIC' WARE from Liberty &Co. Tudric' pewter was one of Liberty & Co.'s most popular ranges. The hand-beaten appearance was popular with customers seeking to furnish their homes in the Arts and Crafts style. The designs were, in fact, stamped out mechanically and the pieces were then finished by hand.
Inscriptions & marks
Stamped on the base: 'Tudric' over '0150'
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
Domestic clocks
A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.
Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.
What to look for
- How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
- The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
- Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
- The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
- Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.
Dating clues
- Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
- Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
- Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.
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.
Related records
Clocks · c.1903-1904
Clock, pewter, made for Liberty& Co., England. 1903-4.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1890-1930
Clock with 8-inch impulse dial, by the Synchronome Company Limited, England, 1890-1930.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1900-1939
Clock by Cox-Walkers of Darlington, England, 1900-1939
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1900-1935
Clock by The Synchronome Company Limited, England, 1900-1935
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1902-1910
Clock by Automatic Water Boiler Company; Clarke, Frank, England, 1902-1910
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1903
Clock by C. F. A. Voysey, England, 1903
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1920
Table clock by L. R, England, 1920
German Clock Museum
Clocks · 1910-1920
Electric clock by Reason Manufacturing Company Limited, England, 1910-1920
Science Museum Group, London