Clocks · Clock
Seth Thomas Regulator No. 15, Tall Case Clock, c. 1886
- Maker / attribution
- Seth Thomas (maker)
- Date
- c. 1886
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- brass, cast iron, walnut
- Auction house
- LiveAuctioneers auction archive
- Lot
- Item 94369193
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 55, December 14, 2020 Auction @ 6:30 pm [EST], Winter Associates (2020), via LiveAuctioneers
- Catalogue title (original)
- Seth Thomas Regulator No. 15, Tall Case Clock, circa (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 94369193), this is a clock by Seth Thomas, made in United States, dated c. 1886. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: brass, cast iron, walnut. 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
Lot description — Winter Associates
A circa 1886 Seth Thomas Regulator No. 14 or 15 case fitted with a No. 69 or 69A movement, the case having walnut and burled veneers on a base with a lockable door, the 14 inch silvered very heavy brass dial is unrestored, the heavy cast iron brass faced and damascened pendulum hangs from a large cast bracket behind the knurled brass cased, single weight, the case has original finish and overall condition is excellent. One side return in the crest is unglued, the movement is a No. 69 or 69A with lantern pinions and Graham deadbeat escapement; this is a very impressive, high quality clock that is rarely available, the movement has no missing or broken parts, it rotates freely with finger pressure and manual pendulum crutch motion, it needs cleaning; 100" h.
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Factory production transformed the clock into an everyday object. American makers (Seth Thomas, Ansonia, Waterbury) and German factories (Junghans, Gustav Becker, Lenzkirch) sold millions of shelf, wall and alarm clocks worldwide; France produced standardised Paris movements and carriage clocks; electric time distribution began.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
Atlas type guide
Longcase (tall-case or grandfather) clocks
The longcase clock was born from two seventeenth-century innovations: Christiaan Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) and the anchor escapement (c. 1670). A long seconds pendulum, nearly a metre long, swings with a small arc, and enclosing it together with the driving weights in a tall wooden case protected the mechanism and created a new piece of furniture. London makers such as Ahasuerus Fromanteel, Thomas Tompion and Joseph Knibb set the pattern.
By the eighteenth century longcase clocks were made throughout Britain, the Netherlands, Scandinavia (the Swedish Mora clock), France (the Comtoise from the Franche-Comté), Germany and colonial America. Eight-day movements with two weights became standard in better clocks; thirty-hour clocks with one weight and a rope or chain were cheaper alternatives.
What to look for
- Winding holes in the dial: two (eight-day, going and striking) or none (thirty-hour, pulled up by a chain).
- Brass dials with applied chapter rings (earlier) versus painted iron 'white' dials (after c. 1770 in Britain).
- Moon-phase arches, date apertures, seconds dials and maker's name on the dial.
- Case woods and style: ebonised, walnut marquetry, lacquer, oak or mahogany; regional styles from London, Lancashire, Scotland or America.
- Whether the movement and dial match the case — 'marriages' are common.
Dating clues
- Square brass dials suggest c. 1670–1720; arched brass dials c. 1715–1790.
- Painted (white) dials were made by Birmingham dial-makers from about 1772.
- Comtoise clocks with repoussé pendulums are mostly nineteenth century.
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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