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Table clock by Nicolaus Kraus, 1649 — view 1 of 1
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Clocks · Table clock

Table clock by Nicolaus Kraus, 1649

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Nicolaus Kraus (Maker)
Date
1649
Historical period
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Country of origin
Unrecorded in source
Place
Tyskland
Object type
Table clock
Materials / technique
Brons Silver
Dimensions
Bredd 12.0 cm
Holding institution
Nordic Museum Foundation
Accession / object no.
NM.0074513
Credit line
Nordic Museum Foundation
Catalogue title (original)
Bordsur (Swedish)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Nordic Museum Foundation (object number NM.0074513), this is a table clock by Nicolaus Kraus, made in Tyskland, dated 1649. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Brons Silver. Recorded dimensions: Bredd 12.0 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

Catalogue description from Nordic Museum Foundation

Huvudliggaren (år 1892): Bordsur. H. 0,08. B. 0,12. Af förgylld brons, fyrkantigt, liggande på 4 fötter i form av lejontassar, sidorna och taflan äro prydda med graverade blomsterslingor; å de 4 sidorna medaljonger framställande kvinnorna vid Kristi kors. Ink. å juvel. Chr. Hammers auktion i Köln juni 1892 - 81 Mk. Bil." Katalogkort: "...Spindelgång. Slag - ej väckning. Markeringar på sifferringen för avläsning i mörker." Nordeuropa, sannolikt Polen. Graverad datering 1649. Signerad Nicolaus Kraus. /Anna Arfvidsson Womack 2020-05-13 Reseur, graverad och förgylld mässing.

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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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

Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)

Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.

Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance 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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