Skip to main content

Watchman's clock: M.229-1973

Object information

Awaiting location update

Maker(s)

Clockmaker: Anonymous

Entities

Categories

Description

Watchman's clock, with friction-tight pins, based on an invention of John Whitehurst of Derby; 8 day timepiece with chain fuse and anchor escapement.

Dial: Conventional silvered dial with roman numerals and blued steel spade hands. Behind this dial, a rotat¬ing silvered ring engraved with roman numerals for the hours and carrying 72 equally spaced friction-tight pins, that is one for each ten minutes. This is based on an invention of John Whitehurst of Derby.

Movement: 8 day timepiece movement with chain fusee and anchor escapement. Geared winding so that the square is in a bushed hole in the case below the dial. Fitted with a mechanism to depress any pin as it reaches the 12 o'clock position. An operating rod and plunger, now missing, were used to operate the pins from outside the building.

Case: Solid mahogany, flat-topped and with floral carving in mahogany on the lower front. 7 inch brass bezel arranged to be secured with a hasp and padlock on the left hand side. Recessed brass lifting handle on top of case. Height without handle 12 1/2 inches.

Measurements and weight

Height: 31.8 cm
Height: 12½ in

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bought

Dating

19th Century, Mid#
Production date: circa AD 1850 : probably

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Case composed of mahogany
Bezel composed of brass (alloy)
Handle composed of brass (alloy)

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.229-1973
Primary reference Number: 167416
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Thursday 11 August 2016 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Watchman's clock" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/167416 Accessed: 2024-11-24 22:09:05

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/167416 |title=Watchman's clock |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-24 22:09:05|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-167416

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...