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Clocks · Wall clock

Wall clock by Dieter Hegenbarth, 1987

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Dieter Hegenbarth (designer)
Date
1987
Country of origin
Unrecorded in source
Object type
Wall clock
Materials / technique
Quartzuhrwerk, Kunststoff, Metall (Material/Technik)
Dimensions
Durchmesser: 40 cmTiefe: 5,7 cm
Holding institution
Kunstpalast
Accession / object no.
mkp.P 1988-386 (Inventarnummer)
Credit line
Kunstpalast
Catalogue title (original)
Wanduhr (German)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Kunstpalast (object number mkp.P 1988-386 (Inventarnummer)), this is a wall clock by Dieter Hegenbarth, dated 1987. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Quartzuhrwerk, Kunststoff, Metall (Material/Technik). Recorded dimensions: Durchmesser: 40 cmTiefe: 5,7 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

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

Historical context

Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)

Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.

Quartz movements and digital displays made accurate clocks cheap and ubiquitous after the early 1970s. LED and LCD clocks, clock radios and radio-controlled clocks appeared, while traditional mechanical clockmaking contracted sharply in Germany, France and Britain.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical 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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