Clocks · Wall clock
Small fusee wall clock by Clerke, London, c. 1855
- Maker / attribution
- Clerke (maker)
- Date
- c. 1855
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Wall clock
- Materials / technique
- oak
- Dimensions
- Height 13 in (33 cm)
- Stock no.
- Product 596
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, P A Oxley (product 596)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Small fusee wall clock by Clerke of London (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by P A Oxley (dealer), Wiltshire (stock number Product 596), this is a wall clock by Clerke, made in London, England, dated c. 1855. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: oak. Recorded dimensions: Height 13 in (33 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
Dealer description — P A Oxley
An unusually small fusee wall clock by this very well known Clockmaker. The single fusee movement is of 8 day duration and features blued steel hands to the rare 8 inch painted dial. The dial signed Clerke, 1 Royal Exhange, London. The small case at only 13 inches in height and made from solid and veneered oak. The movement and pendulum can be accessed via a lockable door to the base and a further latched door to the side. The brass bezel features a lock to the side. A rare and small wall clock by this maker of some fine clocks and watches. Note. It’s possible this clock may have been made for an office due to its small size and choice of oak for the case.
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
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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