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Wall clock by Markus Pettersson, Sweden, 2010 — view 1 of 3
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Clocks · Wall clock

Wall clock by Markus Pettersson, Sweden, 2010

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Markus Pettersson (Maker)
Date
2010
Country of origin
Sweden
Place
Sverige Skara
Object type
Wall clock
Materials / technique
mahogny
Holding institution
Museum of Gothenburg
Accession / object no.
GM:3147 B364 [/neg.nr]
Credit line
Museum of Gothenburg
Catalogue title (original)
väggur, tidmätare (Swedish)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Museum of Gothenburg (object number GM:3147 B364 [/neg.nr]), this is a wall clock by Markus Pettersson, made in Sverige Skara, Sweden, dated 2010. The Atlas places it in the Contemporary Horology period (2010 – Present) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: mahogny. The record is illustrated with 3 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

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

Historical context

Contemporary Horology (2010 – Present)

Silicon components, connected watches, optical-lattice research clocks and a thriving independent scene.

Today time is distributed by satellite navigation and networks with nanosecond accuracy, while mechanical clocks are made as art, design and craft objects. Contemporary designers explore the clock as sculpture and kinetic art.

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

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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