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Table clock, 1800s jälkimmäinen puolisko — view 1 of 1
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Clocks · Table clock

Table clock, 1800s jälkimmäinen puolisko

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Unrecorded in source
Date
1800s jälkimmäinen puolisko
Country of origin
Unrecorded in source
Object type
Table clock
Dimensions
height, max. 40.0 cm; width 28.0 cm; depth 11.0 cm
Holding institution
Uudenkaupungin museo
Accession / object no.
UUD7590:5
Credit line
Uudenkaupungin museo (via Finna)
Catalogue title (original)
pöytäkello; patsaskello; kello (Finnish)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Uudenkaupungin museo (object number UUD7590:5), this is a table clock, dated 1800s jälkimmäinen puolisko. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: height, max. 40.0 cm; width 28.0 cm; depth 11.0 cm. 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 — Uudenkaupungin museo

fyysinen kuvaus: Uusrenessanssityylinen pöytäkello. Valutyö joko sinkkiä tai pronssia ja pinta luultavasti polttokullattu. Osoittimet eri paria, eivät alkuperäiset. Neljä jalkaa, koristeellinen. Valkoinen kellotaulu jalustan päällä, kellotaulun molemmin puolin nais- ja mieshahmo soittimineen. Jalustan koristeena mm. kaksi enkelihahmoa. Kellossa on ranskalainen aikakauden tyypillinen koneisto.

Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.

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.

Read next:FuseeVerge escapementAnchor (recoil) escapement

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