Clocks · Striking clock
Striking mantel clock with round silvered dial, brass bezel in an oak Napoleon hat style case
- Maker / attribution
- Davall (Factory of)
- Date
- 1920–1930
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- England
- Object type
- Striking clock
- Dimensions
- Height: 230 millimetres Width: 423 millimetres Depth: 152 millimetres
- Holding institution
- British Museum
- Accession / object no.
- 2012,8028.92
- Credit line
- British Museum, London
- Catalogue title (original)
- Striking mantel clock with round silvered dial, brass bezel in an oak Napoleon hat style case (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by British Museum (object number 2012,8028.92), this is a striking clock by Davall, made in England, dated 1920–1930. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height: 230 millimetres Width: 423 millimetres Depth: 152 millimetres. 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 — British Museum
Striking mantel clock with round silvered dial, brass bezel in an oak Napoleon hat style case. Single hammer striking on coiled gong. Fabric backed metal fretwork panel in back door of case.
Curator's comments — British Museum
This is a traditionally made Davall striking clock which pre-dates industrialised manufacture. These clocks are uncommon. The high serial number suggests a late manufacture date. Movement fixed to the plate with traditional L-shaped brass brackets. Fly mounted on rear plate. Four pillars - screwed to back plate in fourn corners. Traditional lenticular bob. See 'Clockmaking in England and Wales in the Twentieth Century : the industrialized manufacture of domestic mechanical clocks' by John Glanville and William M. Wolmuth, Crowood Press , 2015 p 333-334.
Inscriptions & marks
inscription; movement back plate; MADE; IN; ENGLAND; 6104
Provenance
Donated by:, John Glanville, Donated by:, Bill Wolmuth
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
Between 1900 and 1945 clocks were electrified: master-clock systems ran factories and offices, synchronous mains clocks entered homes, and the Shortt free-pendulum clock set new standards of accuracy before the first quartz clocks (1927). Art Deco design reshaped mantel and table clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Mantel and French pendule clocks
The mantel clock — the French pendule de cheminée — is as much decorative art as timekeeper. From the late seventeenth century Parisian clockmakers worked with cabinet-makers, bronze founders and gilders (ciseleurs-doreurs) to create cases in Boulle marquetry, gilt bronze and marble, while the movements were often supplied by specialist makers. Clocks of the Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI periods, and Empire clocks with allegorical figures, set fashions copied across Europe.
The nineteenth century industrialised the type. The 'Paris movement', a standardised round movement with silk-thread or Brocot suspension and count-wheel striking, was made in huge numbers by firms such as Japy and Vincenti, and fitted into cases of every style and material.
What to look for
- Round 'Paris' movements with makers' stamps (e.g. Japy Frères, Vincenti, S. Marti) and medal marks from exhibitions.
- Suspension type: silk thread (earlier) or Brocot adjustable suspension (after c. 1840).
- Visible Brocot escapement on the dial in later clocks.
- Fire-gilt (mercury) gilding on bronzes versus later electro-gilding.
- Signed dials naming a retailer rather than the movement maker.
Dating clues
- Silk-suspension Paris movements: c. 1800–1850.
- Brocot suspension and visible escapements: after c. 1840.
- Exhibition medal stamps on movements give dates after the medal year.
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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