Clocks · Table clock
Table clock by Matthias Müller, Austria, 1831–1840
- Maker / attribution
- Matthias Müller (maker)
- Date
- 1831–1840
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Austria
- Place
- Vienna
- Object type
- Table clock
- Materials / technique
- kotelo, wood, koristeet, metal, brass, pylväät, stone, alabasteri
- Dimensions
- height, max., case: 55.5 cm; width, max., case: 32 cm; depth, max., case: 13.5 cm; height, pylväät: 17 cm
- Holding institution
- Suomen kansallismuseo
- Accession / object no.
- IT20:1
- Credit line
- Suomen kansallismuseo (via Finna)
- Catalogue title (original)
- kello; pöytäkello (Finnish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Suomen kansallismuseo (object number IT20:1), this is a table clock by Matthias Müller, made in Vienna, Austria, dated 1831–1840. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: kotelo, wood, koristeet, metal, brass, pylväät, stone, alabasteri. Recorded dimensions: height, max., case: 55.5 cm; width, max., case: 32 cm; depth, max., case: 13.5 cm; height, pylväät: 17 cm. The record is illustrated with 3 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
Description — Suomen kansallismuseo
fyysinen kuvaus: Suorakaiteinen pystysuuntainen kotelo, jonka etusivulla kookas kellotaulu ja sen molemmilla puolilla kotelon etukulmissa valkoiset pylväät (baasis ja kapiteeli messinkiä); kellotaulun ympärillä kotelon kulmissa valetut, kolmiomaiset koristelyötteet. Kellotaulussa arabialaiset numerot 1-12 sekä keskellä pienemmässä kehässä numerot 1-31 (vain parittomat numerot); kolme viisaria. Kellotaulun ikkunassa kapea metallikehys. Yläosa harjakattomainen, etusivulla valettu kolmiomainen koristelyöte, jossa auringonsäteiden ympäröimät kasvot. Huipussa valettu plastinen kotka, joka pitelee nokassaan rengasta; linnun siivet on levitetty. Kellotaulun alapuolinen osa rungosta on hieman yläosaa leveämpi, etusivulla vaakasuuntainen soikea ikkuna, josta heiluri näkyy; ikkunaa ympäröi kapea metallinen kehys, jonka yläpuolella on valettu koriste, siivet levällään oleva lintu ja molemmilla reunoilla hedelmäpuun oksia. Ikkunan molemmilla puolilla on valetut koristelyötteet, joissa on ylösalainen runsaudensarvi (?) ja kolmen kaartuvan lehden muodostamat rengasmaiset kuviot tämän päällä. Kotelon jalkalista melko korkea ja hieman ulkoneva, hyvin matalat, litteät puiset jalkalaatat. Takasivulla kokonaan irrotettava, kahdella pienellä metallisäpillä suljettava koneiston luukku. Yksi avain.
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.
Inscriptions & marks
signeeraus: Mathias Müller Vienne, koneistossa takana; merkintä: 1625. 22959. M., musteella [myös hyvin epäselviä lyijykynämerkintöjä], takaluukku, sisäpuoli
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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