French Brass Clock with Foliage Decoration
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.
- Finial - An architectural decoration, found on the upper parts of of an object. On furniture they are usually found on pediments, canopies and shelf supports. On smaller ceramic or silver items, such as spoons, they may decorate the top of the item itself, or the lid or cover where they provide a useful handle for removal.
Finials have a variety of shapes and forms. They may be urn-shaped, baluster shaped round or spiral, but usually taper into an upper point. Many real life shapes may also be used as finials, such as pineapples, berries, pinecones, buds, lotus and acorns. Sometimes animals such as a lion are depicted, or fish and dolphins. - 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.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
A French cast brass mantle clock, 19th century, with maker's trademark for Japy Freres with four stars, the architectural eight day bell strike clock with a stepped pediment and urn embellishment above the plinth enclosed dial with enamel cartouches and Ro
A Louis XVI style gilt and porcelain mantle clock, later 19th century, with maker's mark for Japy Freres, with Sevres style decoration, having a porcelain bleu-celeste floral dial with Roman numeral cartouches set within a drum decorated with buttress styl
French boulle and ormolu clock with two facial panels a key and starburst pendulum. Height 39.5 cm
An ormolu mantle clock in the Louis XVI style, 19th century, with mark of Rodier of Paris with 1827 gold medal stamp, with an enamel dial with Roman numerals set within a decorative bezel surmounted by a cast urn with vegetal handles and flanked by scrolli