Clocks · Regulator
Regulator by Bartholomew Devis, London, c. 1785–1790
- Maker / attribution
- Bartholomew Devis (maker)
- Date
- c. 1785–1790
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Regulator
- Materials / technique
- mahogany
- Dimensions
- Height 201 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 159
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 159)
- Catalogue title (original)
- BARTHOLOMEW DEVIS. A FINE GEORGE III PERIOD MAHOGANY DOMESTIC REGULATOR OF RARE SMALL SIZE. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 159), this is a regulator by Bartholomew Devis, made in London, England, dated c. 1785–1790. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany. Recorded dimensions: Height 201 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 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
Dealer description — Howard Walwyn
A fine George III period mahogany domestic regulator of rare small size. The refined case with shallow arch design based on those used by Thomas Mudge, is veneered with mahogany of fine colour and patination. Standing on block feet, there is a double plinth to the moulded panelled base. The long door has a shallow arch top similar to the hood which has reeded canted corners and is surmounted by a single mount and brass ball finial. The 10 inch brass dial has a silvered finish and is laid out in the traditional style with two blued steel pointers and a subsidiary seconds dial below XII. The maker’s scrolling signature Bartholemew Devis, LONDON is set within the shallow arch. The 8-day duration movement has a deadbeat escapement with bolt and shutter maintaining power. The high quality pendulum is of flat steel design with a large brass bob and numbered engraved brass rating nut below. Date: circa 1785 – 1790 Height: 79 in (201 cm) including finial Signed / Inscribed Bartholomew Devis LONDON
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
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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