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Wall clock from Vänö, Finland, 1929 — view 1 of 1
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Clocks · Wall clock

Wall clock from Vänö, Finland, 1929

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Unrecorded in source
Date
1929
Country of origin
Finland
Place
Vänö, Pella (source title); subject headings name Kyrkosundsskär, Korpo
Object type
Wall clock
Dimensions
Hyllmeter ordnat 0.45
Accession / object no.
SLS 514:2.48
Credit line
Society of Swedish Literature in Finland
Catalogue title (original)
Vänö, Pella, väggur (Swedish)

Editor's note

At import the source's Swedish subject headings (building practice, home furnishings and tools in Kyrkosundsskär, Korpo) were misread as a maker; the record names no maker. Korpo lies in the Turku archipelago, so the country is Finland, not Sweden.

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

Record summary

Held and catalogued by Society of Swedish Literature in Finland (object number SLS 514:2.48), this is a wall clock, made in Vänö, Pella (source title); subject headings name Kyrkosundsskär, Korpo, Finland, dated 1929. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Hyllmeter ordnat 0.45. 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

The source record does not include a narrative description. The structured fields above are reproduced from it.

Historical context

Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)

The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.

Between 1900 and 1945 clocks were electrified: master-clock systems ran factories and offices, synchronous mains clocks entered homes, and the Shortt free-pendulum clock set new standards of accuracy before the first quartz clocks (1927). Art Deco design reshaped mantel and table clocks.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution

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

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