Clocks · Wall clock
Wall clock, Austria, 1820–1840
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1820–1840
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Austria
- Place
- Austria
- Object type
- Wall clock
- Materials / technique
- wood, pine
- Dimensions
- height: 45 cm; width: 37.5 cm; depth: 13.5 cm
- Holding institution
- Suomen kansallismuseo
- Accession / object no.
- H2010023:
- Credit line
- Suomen kansallismuseo (via Finna)
- Catalogue title (original)
- seinäkello (Finnish)
View the source record ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Suomen kansallismuseo (object number H2010023:), this is a wall clock, made in Austria, dated 1820–1840. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: wood, pine. Recorded dimensions: height: 45 cm; width: 37.5 cm; depth: 13.5 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 — Suomen kansallismuseo
fyysinen kuvaus: Pystysuorakaiteen muotoinen umpinainen kotelo, koko etusivun kokoinen lasilla varustettu ovi, jossa kapea kullattu kehyslista, saranat oikealla sivulla, vasemmalla sivulla pieni hakanen. Lasin takana leveä, kupera kullattu kehys, jonka ulkoreunassa munasauva, kulmissa ja laitojen keskellä kasviaiheiset, lähinnä empiretyyliset ornamentit, mm. palmetteja; sisäreunassa kapea lehtinauha. Taustalevyn yläosassa pyöreä kellotaulu, jossa leveä, malliltaan kukkamainen ja kukkakoristeinen kullattu kehys, joka on kohollaan taustalevystä. Kellotaulussa metallinen hopeanvärinen reunus, johon merkitty roomalaiset numerot I-XII, keskusta kullanvärinen; kaksi ohutta mustaa viisaria. Kellotaulussa kolme avaimenreikää, ei avaimia. Kellotaulun alaosassa sileä suorakaiteinen kenttä, jonka yläosassa vaakasuuntainen soikea aukko; aukon yläreunassa matalana reliefinä kotka ja sen viereltä aukon laidoilla kaartuva kasviköynnös. Takana kehystä pienempikokoinen puinen, ruskea kotelo, jossa irrallinen, liukuva takaseinä (lauta käyristynyt). Irrallinen pienikokoinen heiluri, auringonsäteiden ja seppeleen kehystämät kasvot. Taustalauta heilurin takana maalattu kultavärillä ja koristettu matalin vinoneilökuvioon tehdyinuurtein. Kotelon yläreunassa takana rautainen ripustusrengas.
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
kirjoitus: W. H....g 18/82 [?], lyijykynällä, takalauta, yläreuna; kirjoitus: Rep b W Kreigermeier 10/1871 1202 [?], lyijykynällä, takalauta, yläreuna; kirjoitus: J...feldtmann Zalovensky 1915 ... T. 12487, lyijykynällä, takalauta, yläreuna; kirjoitus: S L 20/11. 1964, lyijykynällä, takalauta, yläreuna; kirjoitus: Julfeldtmann 18/8 1918 Bremen Hamburg ...sten, lyijykynällä, koneiston puurungon poikittaine tukipuu
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
Regulators, wall and Vienna clocks
A regulator is a precision pendulum clock used as a time standard in observatories, workshops and railway offices. Typical features are a deadbeat or Graham escapement, a temperature-compensated pendulum (mercury jar, gridiron or later invar), maintaining power and a regulator dial that separates hours, minutes and seconds. George Graham's deadbeat escapement (c. 1715) and his mercury pendulum, together with Harrison's gridiron, set the pattern for two centuries.
Wall clocks span a much wider range: the elegant Viennese Laterndluhr and Dachluhr of the Biedermeier period, the Dutch stoelklok and staartklok, English 'dial' clocks used in schools, offices and railway stations, and mass-produced spring and weight wall clocks from Germany (Gustav Becker, Junghans, Kienzle) and America.
What to look for
- Deadbeat escapement and compensated pendulum (gridiron rods, mercury jar or wood rod).
- A regulator dial with a large central minute hand and separate hour and seconds dials.
- Vienna regulators: glazed cases, slender pendulum, small weights, enamel two-piece dials.
- German factory trademarks stamped on the backplate (e.g. Gustav Becker anchor and crown, Junghans star).
Dating clues
- Graham-type deadbeat regulators: from c. 1720.
- Viennese Laterndluhr: c. 1800–1850.
- German factory 'Vienna-style' regulators: c. 1870–1930; Gustav Becker serial numbers allow close dating.
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:Deadbeat escapementAnchor (recoil) escapementGrasshopper escapement
Related records
Clocks · 1814–1837
Table clock, Austria, 1814–1837
Treasury of Zwettl Abbey
Clocks · c.1830
Clock, Austria, c.1830
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · c.1830
Clock, Austria, c.1830
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · c. 1840
Wall clock by Anton Olbrich, Austria, c. 1840
German Clock Museum
Clocks · 1831–1840
Table clock by Matthias Müller, Austria, 1831–1840
Suomen kansallismuseo
Clocks · 1830s
Picture clock with Alster panorama
Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte
Clocks · c. 1835
Ignaz Marenzeller in Wien, c. 1835
Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London
Clocks · c. 1845
Longcase clock by Franz Maria Rannaz, Vienna, c. 1845
Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London