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Wall clock by Waterbury Clock Co, United States, c. 1870 — view 1 of 1
View 1 of 1 · Image: HKM / Kulttuurihistoriallinen · original image source (opens another website in a new tab)

Clocks · Wall clock

Wall clock by Waterbury Clock Co, United States, c. 1870

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Waterbury Clock Co (maker)
Date
c. 1870
Historical period
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
Country of origin
United States
Place
United States, Connecticut, Waterbury
Object type
Wall clock
Materials / technique
wood, pine, metal, iron, brass, lead
Holding institution
HKM / Kulttuurihistoriallinen
Accession / object no.
XXXIV-317 -1 (XXXIV-316)
Credit line
HKM / Kulttuurihistoriallinen (via Finna)
Catalogue title (original)
kello; seinäkello (Finnish)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by HKM / Kulttuurihistoriallinen (object number XXXIV-317 -1 (XXXIV-316)), this is a wall clock by Waterbury Clock Co, made in United States, Connecticut, Waterbury, dated c. 1870. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: wood, pine, metal, iron, brass, lead. 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 — HKM / Kulttuurihistoriallinen

fyysinen kuvaus: 8-kulmaisen kellotaulun keskellä varsinainen taulu valkoiseksi maalattua peltiä, roomalaiset numerot mustat. Viisarit rautaa. Kaapin ovessa lasi, jonka mustalle pohjalle maalattu kultainen kehys ja orvokkikimppu. Messinkinen pyöreä heiluri. Messinkinen vetoavain.

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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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

merkintä, Paperilapussa teksti: Waterbury Clock Co Waterbury, Conn. Manufactures of Eight-Day and Thirty-Hour BRASS CLOCKS & TIME PIECES.

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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