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Wall clock by Oy Nikolai Boman Ab, Finland, 1897 — view 1 of 1
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Clocks · Wall clock

Wall clock by Oy Nikolai Boman Ab, Finland, 1897

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Oy Nikolai Boman Ab (maker)
Date
1897
Historical period
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
Country of origin
Finland
Place
Turku
Object type
Wall clock
Dimensions
height 135 cm; thickness 23 cm; width 70 cm; diameter 20,5 cm
Holding institution
Turun kaupunginmuseo
Accession / object no.
TKM15423:2
Credit line
Turun kaupunginmuseo (via Finna)
Catalogue title (original)
kello; seinäkello (Finnish)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Turun kaupunginmuseo (object number TKM15423:2), this is a wall clock by Oy Nikolai Boman Ab, made in Turku, Finland, dated 1897. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: height 135 cm; thickness 23 cm; width 70 cm; diameter 20,5 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

Description — Turun kaupunginmuseo

fyysinen kuvaus: Seinäkello luonnonväristä koivua. Kellotaulu valkoiseksi emaloitu, mustat roomalaiset numerot, niiden välissä kultaiset liljat. Messinkisillä punnuksilla käyvä heilurikello lyömälaitteineen. Heilurin liikkeen laajuutta voidaan säätää. Sorvatut koristeet kellokaapin päällä, koristeet samat kuin ruokasalin kalustossa numerolla 15423:1. Ovessa suorakaiteen muotoinen, ylhäältä kaarimainen lasi, joka peittää kellotaulun.

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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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

Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)

American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.

Factory production transformed the clock into an everyday object. American makers (Seth Thomas, Ansonia, Waterbury) and German factories (Junghans, Gustav Becker, Lenzkirch) sold millions of shelf, wall and alarm clocks worldwide; France produced standardised Paris movements and carriage clocks; electric time distribution began.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific 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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