Clocks · Wall clock
Wall clock by Verdier, France, 1813–1825
- Maker / attribution
- Verdier (maker)
- Date
- 1813–1825
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- France, Paris
- Object type
- Wall clock
- Materials / technique
- kotelo, wood, mahogany, kellotaulun suoja, glass
- Dimensions
- height: 53 cm; width: 36.4 cm; depth: 20 cm
- Holding institution
- Suomen kansallismuseo
- Accession / object no.
- H79098:
- Credit line
- Suomen kansallismuseo (via Finna)
- Catalogue title (original)
- seinäkello (Finnish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Suomen kansallismuseo (object number H79098:), this is a wall clock by Verdier, made in France, Paris, dated 1813–1825. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: kotelo, wood, mahogany, kellotaulun suoja, glass. Recorded dimensions: height: 53 cm; width: 36.4 cm; depth: 20 cm. The record is illustrated with 2 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
Description — Suomen kansallismuseo
fyysinen kuvaus: Suorakaiteinen kotelo mahonkia, koristeena kapeat mustat intarsiaraidat. Kotelo on päältä tasainen, ylälista profiloitu, kotelon pohja hieman kupera. Kotelossa on sivuilla saranoin avautuvat, lasilla varustetut suorakaiteiset luukut. Pyöreän kellotaulun suojana kupera lasi etuluukussa, joka on lukollinen (avain). Kellotaulu on valkoiseksi emaloitu, mustat numerot I-XII ja uloinna kehässä minuutit 5-60 mustalla maalattuina. Seinäkello kuuluu Monrepos'n kartanon alkuperäiseen sisustukseen ja se näkyy ison salongin sisäkuvassa.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Inscriptions & marks
signeeraus: Verdier A Paris, koneistossa; signeeraus: VERDIER A PARIS, musta, kellotaulun keskellä; merkintä: rep. F. Elfström 1902, 1921 ja 1932, takaluukun sisäpuolella
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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