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Wall clock by Anton Olbrich, Austria, c. 1840 — view 1 of 4
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Clocks · Wall clock

Wall clock by Anton Olbrich, Austria, c. 1840

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Anton Olbrich (Maker); M. Mille und Sohn, Wien (Maker); Karl Balzarek (Maker)
Date
c. 1840
Historical period
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Country of origin
Austria
Place
Vienna
Object type
Wall clock
Dimensions
Höhe: 55.00 cm, Breite: 40.00 cm, Tiefe: 15.50 cm
Holding institution
German Clock Museum
Accession / object no.
2004-137 (inventory number) 57222 (technical number)
Credit line
German Clock Museum
Catalogue title (original)
Wanduhr mit Musikwerk, Wien, Müglitz, um 1840 (German)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by German Clock Museum (object number 2004-137 (inventory number) 57222 (technical number)), this is a wall clock by Anton Olbrich, made in Vienna, Austria, dated c. 1840. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Höhe: 55.00 cm, Breite: 40.00 cm, Tiefe: 15.50 cm. The record is illustrated with 4 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

Catalogue description from German Clock Museum

Diese Rahmenuhr mit Wiener Schlag und Musikwerk stammt aus der Zeit um 1840. Folgende Signaturen sind auf Teilen der Uhr vorhanden: - Musikwerk: A. Olbrich in Wien - Tonfederstange: M. Miller und Sohn in Wien - Gehäuse: Karl Balzareck in Müglitz (Deutsches Uhrenmuseum Furtwangen)

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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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

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

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