French Alabaster Mantle Clock with Gilt Metal Pendulum
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Pendulum - The pendulum was discovered around 1602 by Galileo Galilei, and was adopted for time keeping by the Dutch mathematician and natural philosopher, Christiaan Huygens, who excelled in astronomy, physics, and horology.
The pendulum comprises a metal rod usually of brass or steel with a metal disk, known as a bob, at the end. The movement of the pendulum is driven by weights or a spring, and as a pendulum swings in a regular arc, it was found accuracy could be controlled to within a few seconds a week.
Timekeeping can be adjusted by changing the height of the bob on the rod, making the pendulum either swing slower or faster.
The disadvantage of the pendulum was that changes in temperature also changed the length of the pendulum, interfering with the accuracy of the clock, and so in the 18th century two types of mercurial pendulums were invented which countered the movement in the steel rod.
The pendulum was the world's most accurate timekeeping technology until the invention of the quartz clock, regulated by a quartz crystal, in 1927. - Alabaster - Alabaster is soft natural stone used for statuary, with a similar appearance to marble, but easier to work with. As it is softer than marble, an item made from alabaster can be scratched with a metal object, and an alabaster item does not polish to a high surface gloss like marble.
Alabaster objects can be semi-translucent. Alabaster occurs in a pure white form and also with veining from dirt. Colours vary from white through yellow and pink to brown. The veining is usually green or black but can be multicoloured.
Being semi-translucent, alabaster is often used for the bowls of figural lamps, with the figure itself being either alabaster or marble.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
A 19th century French gilt metal mantel clock with 8-day movement; painted enamel face and Sevres pattern panels. Height 42 cm
Antique French Louis XVI style ormolu and marble mantle clock, Mougin of Paris, approx 32 cm high, 25 cm wide, 12 cm deep
A fine ormolu and marble Louis XVI style figural clock, 19th century, with maker's mark Oc with star within a fleur-de-lis, having a drum head set with a fine enamel dial with blue Roman numerals and minute markings, surmounted by an urn and flanked by an
A 19th century French ormolu and porcelain mounted mantel clock, Farret a Paris, with white enamelled dial with Roman and Arabic numerals to the eight day two train movement striking on a bell, contained in ormolu case surmounted by a cresting of two doves