Clocks · Clock
Walnut fusee timepiece library clock by Barraud & Lunds, London
- Maker / attribution
- Barraud & Lunds (maker)
- Date
- c. 1850
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- walnut
- Dimensions
- Height 30.5 cm
- Stock no.
- Product 2494
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, The Antique Clock Company (product 2494)
- Catalogue title (original)
- A SUPERB WALNUT FUSEE TIMEPIECE LIBRARY CLOCK – BARRAUD & LUNDS – LONDON (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by The Antique Clock Company (dealer), Dorset (stock number Product 2494), this is a clock by Barraud & Lunds, made in London, England, dated c. 1850. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: walnut. Recorded dimensions: Height 30.5 cm. 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
Dealer description — The Antique Clock Company
A superb quality Walnut 8-day fusee timepiece four glass “Library” clock. The single-chain fusee movement with anchor escapement signed on the backplate “Barraud & Lunds, 49, Cornhill, London. 5863.”. The 5” silvered dial with engraved floral swags surrounding the division ring, with roman numerals and the dial also being signed and numbered to match the clock movement. Original, non-matching, blued steel hands. The case is made with the finest Walnut veneers and bevelled glass on both sides. Victorian clock making at its best. Barraud & Lunds: The company was founded by the eminent chronometer maker Paul Philip Barraud at Cornhill, London C.1795. They changed their name to Barraud & Lunds in 1838 when John Richard Lund became a partner, and the company finally closed in 1929. During their time, they were celebrated makers for their high-quality chronometers, pocket watches and clocks. Comparative Literature: Paul Philip Barraud – by Cedric Jagger – 1968 Height: 12 ” or 30.5cm
Provenance
Private collection – U.K.
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
Domestic clocks
A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.
Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.
What to look for
- How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
- The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
- Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
- The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
- Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.
Dating clues
- Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
- Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
- Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.
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:Verge escapementFoliot
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