Clocks · Wall clock
Wall clock, France, c. 1750–60
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1750–60
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- France
- Object type
- Wall clock
- Materials / technique
- gilt bronze
- Dimensions
- Overall: 116.9 x 50.8 x 27.7 cm (46 x 20 x 10 7/8 in.)
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession / object no.
- 1950.376
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Catalogue title (original)
- Wall Clock (English)
View the source record ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Cleveland Museum of Art (object number 1950.376), this is a wall clock, made in France, dated c. 1750–60. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: gilt bronze. Recorded dimensions: Overall: 116.9 x 50.8 x 27.7 cm (46 x 20 x 10 7/8 in.). 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
The source record does not include a narrative description. The structured fields above are reproduced from it.
Provenance
(Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York).
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
Related records
Clocks · 1750–1800
Bracket clock in metal case with scroll handles and flamed-shaped top signed by Pierre Seignoret, Clockmaket to the the Comte d'Artois
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1756
Mantel clock, France, 1756
Rijksmuseum
Clocks · c. 1764–70
Mantel clock by Jean-André Lepaute, France, c. 1764–70
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Clocks · 1760–1860
'Pendule d'alcove' wall clock, gilt-bronze and boulle marquetry, Paris, 1760-1860
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Clocks · 1760
Mantel clock, France, 1760
Rijksmuseum
Clocks · c. 1768–70
Longcase astronomical regulator by Ferdinand Berthoud, France, c. 1768–70
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Clocks · c. 1775
Clock by Porcelain plaques by Sèvres Manufactory, France, c. 1775
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Clocks · 1770–1775
Longcase clock (régulateur) by Robert Robin, France, 1770–1775
Victoria and Albert Museum, London