Clocks · Regulator clocks; weight-driven pendulum clocks; grasshopper escapements
Regulator clock by Vulliamy, Benjamin, 1747-1811, England, 1780
- Maker / attribution
- Vulliamy, Benjamin, 1747-1811 (maker); Benjamin Vulliamy (maker)
- Date
- 1780
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London, London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
- Object type
- Regulator clocks; weight-driven pendulum clocks; grasshopper escapements
- Holding institution
- Science Museum Group, London
- Accession / object no.
- 1884-79
- Credit line
- Patent Office Museum
- Catalogue title (original)
- Regulator clock made by Vulliamy for King George III
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Science Museum Group, London (object number 1884-79), this is a regulator clocks; weight-driven pendulum clocks; grasshopper escapements by Vulliamy, Benjamin, 1747-1811, made in London, London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, dated 1780. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. 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
Science Museum Group description
A regulator clock is a highly accurate timepiece, usually used for making precise measurements in conjunction with astronomical observation. This is the movement from a clock made by Benjamin Vulliamy (1747-1811) in 1780 for King George III and used as the principal timekeeper at the King's Observatory at Kew. Rollers act as the bearings for the wheelwork, reducing the friction and the need for lubrication. For similar reasons the clock was also fitted with the grasshopper escapement invented by the pioneer of the chronometer, John Harrison (1693-1776). Harrison`s gridiron pendulum was also incorporated to ensure that the clock kept good time by compensating for changes of temperature.
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.
Read next:Anchor (recoil) escapement
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