Clocks · Skeleton clock
Small English fusee skeleton clock, c. 1880
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1880
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Object type
- Skeleton clock
- Materials / technique
- ebonised
- Dimensions
- Height 16 in (41 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 402
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 402)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Small English Fusee Skeleton Clock (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 402), this is a skeleton clock, made in England, dated c. 1880. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: ebonised. Recorded dimensions: Height 16 in (41 cm). The record is illustrated with 5 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 — P A Oxley
An English Fusse Skeleton Clock of good small size. The 8 day duration single fusee chain driven movement with passing strike to the single bell on the hour. The silvered brass skeletonised chapter ring with matching blued steel hands and standing on four substantial brass mounts. The original ebonised base with small bun feet and the entire clock enclosed within its original glass dome.
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
Skeleton clocks
A skeleton clock displays its movement: the plates are pierced to a minimum so that wheels, escapement and fusee can be seen, usually under a glass dome. French makers produced fine skeleton clocks in the late eighteenth century; in Victorian England they became popular showpieces, with frames in the shapes of cathedrals and famous buildings.
What to look for
- Pierced brass plates in scroll or architectural shapes.
- A glass dome and wooden or marble base.
- Fusee movements and sometimes passing strike on a bell.
Dating clues
- French skeleton clocks: c. 1780–1830.
- English cathedral-style skeleton clocks: c. 1840–1890.
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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