Clocks · Regulator clock
Regulator clock by François Autray, France, 1700–1800
- Maker / attribution
- François Autray (maker)
- Date
- 1700–1800
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- Paris, France
- Object type
- Regulator clock
- Materials / technique
- wood, bronze, copper, glass
- Dimensions
- height 220 cm; width 55 cm; depth 26,5 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OA 9399
- Credit line
- Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes
- Catalogue title (original)
- Régulateur (French)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 9399), this is a regulator clock by François Autray, made in Paris, France, dated 1700–1800. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: wood, bronze, copper, glass. Recorded dimensions: height 220 cm; width 55 cm; depth 26,5 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
Catalogue description — Musée du Louvre (French)
Régulateur en trois parties plaquées de bois de rose et de violette et ornées de bronze en rocailles. Cadran et mouvement signés Autray à Paris. Aiguiles mutilées à la Révolution. Marqueterie unie et son socle.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Dating and period as catalogued (French)
Epoque / période : Louis XV (1715-1774) (Occident->époque moderne = Ancien Régime->dynastie des Bourbons) · · Date de création/fabrication : 1700 - 1800
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Materials and techniques as catalogued (French)
Matériau : bois · Matériau : bronze · Technique : doré = dorure (techniques bambou/ bois/ corne/ ivoire/ écaille) · Matériau : cuivre · Technique : techniques bambou/ bois/ corne/ ivoire/ écaille (ébénisterie) · Matériau : verre
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.
Provenance
Legs Mme Lebey, 1945.
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
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.
Read next:Deadbeat escapementAnchor (recoil) escapementGrasshopper escapement
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