Clocks · Shelf clock
Shelf clock by Benjamin Torrey, United States, c. 1820–40
- Maker / attribution
- Benjamin Torrey (maker)
- Date
- c. 1820–40
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Place
- United States
- Object type
- Shelf clock
- Materials / technique
- Mahogany, white pine, iron, brass, painted glass
- Dimensions
- H.: 91.5 cm (36 in.)
- Holding institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Accession / object no.
- 2010.455
- Credit line
- Quinn E. Delaney and Vance American Art funds
- Catalogue title (original)
- Shelf Clock (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Art Institute of Chicago (object number 2010.455), this is a shelf clock by Benjamin Torrey, made in United States, dated c. 1820–40. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Mahogany, white pine, iron, brass, painted glass. Recorded dimensions: H.: 91.5 cm (36 in.). 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
Description — Art Institute of Chicago
An alternative to expensive tall case clocks, shelf clocks were more affordable in the early 19th century. On this piece, Benjamin Torrey used a technique called eglomise, in which paint is applied to the back of a glass pane so that the reverse image is visible to the viewer. The romanticized pastoral scene and the decorative motif that borders both the upper and lower cases evince the design possibilities in use during the Neoclassical period. This particular clock is rare in that it retains both its original glass and its striking mechanism. A prized possession, it remained in the Torrey family until the Great Depression.
Provenance
The artist; by descent in the Torrey family until 1930s. William Samaha, Milan, OH, by 1977; sold to Peter Zaharis (1927–2020), Ithaca, NY, 1985; sold to Joseph Keown, 1985; sold to John Burchfield, Ohio, by 1989; sold to Peter J. Sawyer Antiques, Exeter, NH, 1989; sold to Charles E. Buckley (1919–2011), Mont Vernon, NH, 1989; with Peter Sawyer Antiques, Exeter, NH, 2010; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2010.
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
Bracket, table and spring-driven clocks
Spring-driven clocks freed timekeeping from the hanging weight. The coiled mainspring, documented from the fifteenth century, made portable table clocks possible; to even out its declining force, makers used the fusee, a conical pulley connected to the barrel by a gut line or chain. Renaissance table clocks from Augsburg and Nuremberg — drum-shaped, square or tower-shaped in gilt brass — were luxury scientific objects, often with astronomical dials and alarms.
After the pendulum, English makers developed the bracket clock: a wooden case with a carrying handle, a short pendulum with a verge escapement, and often repeating work to sound the hours on demand at night. Later examples use the anchor escapement. In the nineteenth century, 'table clock' became a broad term for spring clocks of every nationality.
What to look for
- A fusee in the movement (cone-shaped pulley) and the type of line — gut or chain.
- Verge escapement with a short bob pendulum, often with a decoratively engraved backplate.
- Repeat cords or buttons that make the clock strike again on demand.
- Gilt-brass engraved cases and horizontal dials on Renaissance pieces.
- Case shapes: inverted bell, bell top, break-arch, lancet or balloon.
Dating clues
- Drum and tower table clocks: c. 1520–1650.
- Ebony veneered English bracket clocks with verge escapements: c. 1670–1800.
- Engraved backplates were usual on English clocks until c. 1800, then generally plain.
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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