Clocks · Wall clock
Wall clock by Finn Juhl, Denmark, after 1952
- Maker / attribution
- Finn Juhl (designer)
- Date
- after 1952
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- Denmark
- Place
- Denmark
- Object type
- Wall clock
- Materials / technique
- Painted wood, aluminium hands and hour markers, electrical mechanism
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 49.5 cm
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- W.8-2020
- Catalogue title (original)
- Wall Clock
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number W.8-2020), this is a wall clock by Finn Juhl, made in Denmark, dated after 1952. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Painted wood, aluminium hands and hour markers, electrical mechanism. Recorded dimensions: Diameter: 49.5 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
V&A — Physical description
This wall clock consists of a mahogany-like wood dish-shaped clock face painted in black. The clock’s numerals are distinguished by small aluminium roundels that circle its border. Each quarter of the clock is illustrated by the repetition of two roundels stacked beside one another. Two aluminium hands of the same finish are hinged to the clock face at its central point, representing the minute and hour hands. The hour hand is thicker and shorter, distinguishing it from the minute hand, which is slimmer and culminates just before the edge of the roundels. The back of the clock face consists of an aluminium bracket for mounting, which also conceals a hook and the clock’s electrical mechanism.
V&A gallery label
Telling time at the United Nations In 1950, the United Nations (UN) commissioned Danish designer Finn Juhl to create the interior of the UN Trusteeship Council chamber in New York. His design included a large wooden clock. Juhl also produced other versions of the clock for private clients. This one was for the Copenhagen store of porcelain manufacturer Bing & Grøndal, for which Juhl designed the interior. Wall clock About 1950 Designed by Finn Juhl, Denmark Carved and painted wood with aluminium dials Purchased with the support of the Horn Bequest and the Dr W.L. Hildburgh Bequest Museum no. W.8-2020 [This label was written for the Design 1900-Now gallery opened in June 2021. The clock belongs to the 'Consumption and Identity' section of the gallery.]
Historical context
Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.
Post-war clocks combined new materials and industrial design: plastic and metal cases, battery-powered transistor movements from the late 1950s, and design classics by George Nelson, Max Bill and others. The first caesium atomic clock (1955) moved the definition of time from astronomy to physics.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking
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.
Related records
Clocks · 1873–2021
Clock, Poland, 1873–2021
The International Center for Information Management Systems and Services
Clocks · 20th century
Base Metal, 20th c. Bronze, marble and ivory clock by Chiparus
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1900–1999
Clock by Erik Holmén, 1900–1999
Nordic Museum Foundation
Clocks · 1900–1999
Clock by Französisch (Schule), 1900–1999
Fine Arts Museum Vienna
Clocks · 1900–1999
Clock by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, 1900–1999 (German Clock Museum Museu_ProvidedCHO_museum_digital_59468__technical_number_)
German Clock Museum
Clocks · 1900–1999
Clock by Friedrich Mauthe, Germany, 1900–1999 (German Clock Museum Museu_ProvidedCHO_museum_digital_59469__technical_number_)
German Clock Museum
Clocks · 1900–1999
Clock by G. H. Lantman, Netherlands, 1900–1999
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage
Clocks · 1900–1999
Clock by J. Winkelman, Belgium, 1900–1999
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage