Clocks · Clock
'The Courier of St. Petersburg' mantelpiece clock
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1850
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Great Britain
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- mahogany, brass
- Dimensions
- Height: 57.0 cm; Width: 36.0 cm (at widest point); Depth: 15.7 cm (at deepest point)
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- S.877-1981
- Credit line
- Given by the British Theatre Museum Association
- Catalogue title (original)
- 'The Courier of St. Petersburg' mantelpiece clock (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number S.877-1981), this is a clock, made in Great Britain, England, dated c. 1850. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogany, brass. Recorded dimensions: Height: 57.0 cm; Width: 36.0 cm (at widest point); Depth: 15.7 cm (at deepest point). 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
Physical description — Victoria and Albert Museum
Mahogany mantelpiece clock with a modern movement in a hexagonal case on a rectangular stand with brass ball feet, with inlaid brass detail and a brass cut-out panel along the front of the stand depicting Andrew Ducrow's Courier of St. Petersburg act of horsemanship riding five in hand, standing on the rear two horses, the other three in front. The clock has a turned wooden onion-shaped finial, brass loops at each side and a drawer in the right hand side.
Brief description — Victoria and Albert Museum
Decorative mantelpiece clock with image of Andrew Ducrow riding five in hand. Mahogany and brass, English, ca.1850
Provenance
Given to the British Theatre Museum Association by Antony Hippisley Coxe in May 1965. Exhibited in the V&A circus display, Gallery 104A, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the foundation of circus, April 2018 to February 2019
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Factory production transformed the clock into an everyday object. American makers (Seth Thomas, Ansonia, Waterbury) and German factories (Junghans, Gustav Becker, Lenzkirch) sold millions of shelf, wall and alarm clocks worldwide; France produced standardised Paris movements and carriage clocks; electric time distribution began.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
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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