Skip to content
Watch MuseumHorology Atlas
Table Clock - Johan Dotthy, Breslau, 17th century — view 1 of 6
View 1 of 6 · Image: Museums Victoria · original image source (opens another website in a new tab)

Clocks · Table clock

Table Clock - Johan Dotthy, Breslau, 17th century

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Mr Johan Dotthy (Maker)
Date
c. 1680
Historical period
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Country of origin
Germany
Place
Breslau, Germany
Object type
Table clock
Dimensions
10.7 cm (Length), 10.7 cm (Width), 7.7 cm (Height)
Holding institution
Museums Victoria, Melbourne
Accession / object no.
ST 28588
Catalogue title (original)
Table Clock - Johan Dotthy, Breslau, 17th century (English)

View the source record ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Held and catalogued by Museums Victoria, Melbourne (object number ST 28588), this is a table clock by Mr Johan Dotthy, made in Breslau, Germany, dated c. 1680. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: 10.7 cm (Length), 10.7 cm (Width), 7.7 cm (Height). The record is illustrated with 6 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

Summary — Museums Victoria

Table clock, square metal case of gilded brass. Horizontal dial has single hand and silver chapter ring. Made by Johan Dotthy or Donhy, Breslau, Germany, probably 17th century.

Physical description — Museums Victoria

Door beneath dial contains bell for striking. Inner circle of brass on dial for setting alarm mechanism. Spring wound; verge escapement. Single barrel for strike.

Inscriptions & marks

Maker's name on inside base-plate: 'Johan Dotthy [Donhy?], Breslau]

Provenance

Donation from Joseph Lowy, 19 Dec 1972

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:FuseeAnchor (recoil) escapement

Related records

Clock, Germany, 1600–1700

Clocks · 1600–1700

Clock, Germany, 1600–1700

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Table clock by Hans Christoph II. Fesenmair, Germany, 1600–1699

Clocks · 1600–1699

Table clock by Hans Christoph II. Fesenmair, Germany, 1600–1699

Fine Arts Museum Vienna

Table clock by Hans Jakob Mair, Germany, 1600–1699

Clocks · 1600–1699

Table clock by Hans Jakob Mair, Germany, 1600–1699

Fine Arts Museum Vienna

Table clock by Johann Heinrich Kleinschmidt, Germany, 17th century

Clocks · 17th century

Table clock by Johann Heinrich Kleinschmidt, Germany, 17th century

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Musical clock with spinet and organ by Veit Langenbucher, Germany, c. 1625

Clocks · c. 1625

Musical clock with spinet and organ by Veit Langenbucher, Germany, c. 1625

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Table clock by Christoph Angermair, Germany, 1624–1630

Clocks · 1624–1630

Table clock by Christoph Angermair, Germany, 1624–1630

Fine Arts Museum Vienna

Upright table clock with winding key, by unknown maker, made in Augsburg, Germany, 1625–1635

Clocks · 1625–1635

Upright table clock with winding key, by unknown maker, made in Augsburg, Germany, 1625–1635

Science Museum Group, London

Mantel clock by David Nevir, Germany, 1700–1799

Clocks · 1700–1799

Mantel clock by David Nevir, Germany, 1700–1799

City Museum Berlin