- Museum number
- 1867,0716.4
- Description
-
Table clock; verge escapement (converted to 'cow-tail' pendulum); spring-driven; alarum (now missing); hour and quarter-striking on two trains (without fusees); third striking mechanism (with fusee) repeats the hours on a larger bell; both housed in base of clock-case; dial-plate with two dials, upper indicates the age, phase and aspect of the moon as well as having concentric hour and minute hands; lower indicates the time according to the twenty-four hour system; engraved case set with wheel-engraved glass panels on either side; dated.
- Production date
- 1648
- Dimensions
-
Height: 47 centimetres
-
Width: 28 centimetres
-
Depth: 28 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
-
- Curator's comments
-
The following text is the entry for this object from the unpublished catalogue of pre-pendulum clocks by John Leopold, former Assistant Keeper of Horology at the Museum. This information is unedited and should be used accordingly.
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TABERNACLE CLOCK BY LUCAS WEYDMANN, CRACOW, 1648
Presented by Octavius S. Morgan, 9 Pall Mall.
Bibliography.
Exh. London 1850 no.416.
Milham (1923) 128, 130.
Postcards (1925) no.13.
Baillie 1 (1929) 378.
Benis (1944) 10.
Baillie 2 (1947) 339.
Tomkiewicz (1952) 61, pl.XXII.
Paszkiewicz (1964).
Lloyd (1964) 73.
Paszkiewicz (1969).
Siedlecka (1976) 67-8, fig.14.
Tait (1983) 26-9 (incorrectly claims that part of the top structure is missing; the description of the striking sequence is also incorrect).
Wayman (2000) - front cover, 72, fig.4.49-50 (analysis of the 19th cent. main spring going).
The engravings associated with the glass windows:
Paskiewicz (1964).
Tait (1983) 29.
Siedlecka (1976) seems to quote for the engraved glass: Paskiewicz (1969).
Exh. London 1850 describes briefly: "416. A Clock, by L.Weidman. XVI CENT. O. Morgan, Esq. M.P." (This is pamphlet D 21.)
SIGNATURE.
Engraved at the bottom of the front panel of the case:
Lucas Cracow
Weijdman AD 16 48
Scratched on the base plate: "Chretien Le Cadet a chantilly Le 6 june 1686"; also: "chapron". On the outside of the lower plate of the after-strike movement is scratched: "Chretien le Cadet".
Scratched on the top of the first circular disc of the top: "Pauve a Paris 24 Juin 1773" and "De Lamotte 1 May 1782 1790 20 Mars".
Scratched in the blueing of the mainspring of the going train: "Monginot 1807 Mai".
Scratched on the brazed cap of the barrel of the going train: "5 tours" and "Ludovic Alphane Totus-mondus Anno 1838"; the pinned cap just has "5 tours". On the centre bar (going-side) is scratched: "Touttemonde 1838". Several moving parts of the going train have a scratched "M". On the inside of the alarm plate is scratched "haut".
DESCRIPTION.
Case and dials.
The case is contructed very largely of brass, gilded on all the visible surfaces. It consists of the base, four vertical panels, and the top structure. Base and top structure are latched to the plates of the movement. The seven brass latches (four for the base and three for the top) have large ornamental handles or flags, which are visible throught the glass panels in the sides; these are pierced and engraved with flowers; the position of the eighth flag is taken by the plate of the alarm train (see below). The latches are attached to the movement plates by steel screws.
The profiled part of the base is cast as a single piece of brass, gilded on the visible surfaces only. Its centre portion carries four feet to secure the principal movement, and two feet to attach the after-strike movement; all feet are riveted. The curved surfaces are engraved with representations of the Fall, with appropriate texts, as follows.
Front: the Lord showing the Tree of Life to Adam and Eve, with:
"Omnibus ad Victum concessis fructibus Arbor
Vnica quam sacram vult DEVS excipitur
Hunc sibi poscebat cultum divina Voluntas
Hæc hominum generi lex data prima fuit"
(Among all the fruit allowed for food
God wishes one tree to be excepted as sacred,
The Divine Will demanded that it be tended for Itself:
That was the first law given to mankind.)
Right side: Adam and Eve, with:
"Angelici coetus lætos duxere triumphos
Et viguere suis cuncta creata bonis
Rumpitur invidia Satanas et mille per astus
Insonti insidias exitiumque parat"
(The heavenly host conducts its happy triumph
And all creation flourishes by its benefits;
The jealousy of Satan is broken, and through a thousand tricks
He prepares the ambush and the downfall of the innocent.)
Back: Eve takes the apple, with:
"Succedunt fraudes credenti imponitur eheu
Quam tristi lapsu corruit Heua parens
Appetit exhorret vetita tamen arbore fructus
Carpere quæ poterat vincere victa cadit"
(Alas, the tricks played on the credulous succeed,
Through what sad lapse mother Eve went to ruin:
The fruit on the forbidden tree attracts and terrifies her,
She fall victim to plucking which she could have overcome.)
Left side: Death and the Angel chase Adam and Eve, with:
"Dum perstabat homo sancta in pietate fideque
Arbitrium vidit cuncta Creata sequi
Lapsus in interitum traxit genus omne reoque
Præsentem intentat machina trina necem"
(While man stood firm in holy piety and faith
He saw all creation follow his dominion.
Having fallen he has dragged all his decendants into annihilation, and for the guilty
This threefold machine 1) indicates that death is at hand.)
The bottom of the base is covered by a gilded copper base plate, with a hinged lid to allow access to the after-strike movement; the plate is gilded on the underside only, the lid on both sides. The lid has a circular aperture to accomodate the bell, which is carreid by a steel stand screwed with two screws. The outside of the base plate and the inside of the lid are decorated with a geometric patern of circles and straight lines (similar to the decoration of the backplate of the after-strike movement). The baseplate is a re-used engraved printing plate, which was incompletely scraped so that bits of ornament and portions of Latin texts (in mirror immage) remain visible.
Four cast and gilded brass feet, shaped as lions with split bodies, fit over the corners of the cast base and the baseplate; they are each secured by a screw which passes through the foot and the plate into the base. At the middle of the sides four turned gilded brass finials are screwed to the baseplate.
The four vertical panels are the front and the back panels, which are secured by two lugs top and bottom which fit into holes in the base and the top structure, and two side panels, which are held friction tight. The front pannel is engraved with a landscape and four angels; at the bottom is the signature (see above). It carries two profiled bands, riveted to the upper and the lower edge, and two profiled rings which secure the dials (the bottom one riveted, the top one pinned). The silver chapterring at the top and the silver dial at the bottom are additionally riveted to the panel.
The topmost dial has two fixed scales. The outer one on the profiled ring is marked 5 - 60 and I - IIII, for the minutes and quarters. Within this is the silver chapterring marked I - XII with half-hour marks, for the twelve hours. The centre portion of this dial is formed by three moving discs. The lower (inner) disc, marked 1 - 12, is the alarm disc; the middle one, marked 1 - 30 and engraved with a volvelle for the moon-phases, is for the moon. The upper disc carries a flame-like extension which is the hour hand, and a lesser extension which indicates the lunar date; this disc is engraved with an aspectarium and has a hole to tell the moon-phase. The steel hand of this dial indicates the minutes.
The lower dial is marked 1 - 24, for the 24 hours. The centre portion of the silver disc is engraved with a view of a town, with a large bird flying over it.
The dial has a steel hand.
The back panel is engraved with a landscape with a town and a chapel, and two female figures, one carrying a book of letters (St.Anne) and the other a small tower (St.Barbara; for these attributions see commentary). The pannel carries two profiled bands, riveted to the upper and the lower edge, and two small profiled rings which frame the dials; these rings are riveted, as are the silver dials. The right-hand dial is marked 1 - 12 (for the principal hour-striking train) and has at the centre a view of a town with a bird; the left-hand dial is marked I - IIII (for the quarter striking train) and has at the centre a landscape with a town. This panel has three large holes for the winding squares (the top one, for the missing principal hour striking train, has been neatly filled and the plug engraved over but not gilded), and also three small holes for synchronizing the three striking trains.
The side panels each consist of a brass plate, with profile bands riveted to their upper and lower edges, and with the cast corner pillars screwed by three steel screws each (on the left one screw is missing). The plates are engraved with flowers, fruits and tendrils and have a large aperture which is covered with glass, the glass being secured by an ornamental rim screwed to the plate (four steel screws). The right-hand panel has a hole in the glass, to accomodate the winding square of the alarm. Both glass are decorated by wheel-engraving; the right-hand one, with the hole for the alarm, is original, the left one was copied after the other, probably in the 19th century 2). The two glasses have the same representation: a bridge over water, with the motto "ALIIS INSERVIENDO CONSVMOR" ("in serving others I am consumed"), above which is a candlestick with a candle about to be extinguished by clouds with rain and wind, with the motto "SPLENDOR VANESCENS" ("vanishing splendor"). For these representations see Commentary. Four brass hooks are riveted to the back of each side panel (those on the left broken and one replaced); for these hooks, which are no longer used, see below.
The top-structure consists of a square plate with balustrade, which carries two openwork drums for the bells, which in turn are surmounted by a small cage with a top ornament and a finial.
The square top-plate is latched by three feet to the top plate of the movement. It is engraved along the edge with an ornament of leaves, and the edge is cut irregularly to follow this decoration. Within this ornament, at the corners, four profiled blocks are screwed into the plate; four engraved balustrades are slotted into these blocks, and secured by four large finials screwed into the blocks. Each balustrade consists of a pierced and engraved vertical strip and two plain horizontal strips with holes to fit small lugs on the engraved strips.
Within the balustrades of the square top-plate a cast circular profiled ring is fixed by four steel screws. A recess along the upper edge of this ring holds the larger drum, pierced and engraved with flowers and tendrils. The drum, which is cast, is secured to the ring by pins, and is similarly attached to a profiled ring which surmounts it; this second ring is brazed to the circular cover of the drum. The circular cover carries the brass bellstand (two steel screws) for the larger bell, which is secured with a brass nut (bell no longer in use).
Along its top edge the cover is engraved with an ornament of tendrils interrupted by six turned finials. Within the finials a smaller profiled ring is screwed to the cover by three steel screws (screws replaced and one missing); this ring holds the smaller drum, which is made, decorated and secured similar to the larger drum. Its upper edge,likewise, is pinned to a profiled ring which is brazed to a circular disc which forms its cover. This cover carries the brass bell stand of the smaller bell (two steel screws and a brass nut).
The second cover carries the cage for the automaton. The gilding of the cover does not match the outline of the cage, which suggests that roiginally there may have been a thin ornamental plate btween the two. The cage consists of six turned balusters (one baluster replaced) fitted between two rings. All six pillars are screwed into the upper ring, and three are secured by screws to the lower ring (the others sit in plain holes and are not attached). The bottom ring is secured by three screwes to the top disc of the upper drum; the upper ring is screwed, also with three screws, to the turned top ornament, which in turn has a finial screwed on top of it.
Locking of the side panels.
The hooks at the back of the side panels, which no longer engage anything, clearly show that there originally was a locking-device to prevent the panels with the fragile glasses falling off accidentally. Most likely the holes in the corners of the top plate of the movement, and the dove-tail slots at the back of the movement, are associated with this.
It is suggested that originally there were two U-shaped steel frames, each sliding in two slots and operated by a vertical bar projecting through one of the holes in the top plate of the case. Each frame had arms to engage the hooks at the back of the panels.
For other examples of secret catches see Introduction.
Movements.
General.
The clock has two separate movements. The principal movement, aranged vertically in the main body of the clock, comprises the going train, the quarter striking, the principal hour-striking, and the alarm; the subsidiary movement, containing the train for the after-strike, is aranged horizontally in the base.
The principal movement is of the posted-frame type; two square plates connected at the corners by simple square sectioned pillars, screwed with brass nuts. The movement is constructed largely of brass, which is gilded except for the portions behind the front and back plates of the case, the inside of the alarm-plate and the underside of the lower movement plate. The two striking trains are arranged side by side, each having a separate rear bar. The hour-striking train was constructed upside-down, with the fly at the bottom. None of the pillars of the movement can be removed without dismantling the frame. At the back, near the ends of the pillars, there are four dove-tail slots in the movement plates; these slots are no longer in use and their purpose is unclear.
The after-strike movement is plated. It is largely constructed of brass, with simple square sectioned pillars of steel. Only the outside of the back plate is gilded.
All train wheels in both movements have three crossings, except for the great wheels which are solid. The under-dial wheels are of steel.
Going train.
Traincount:
64 ┐
── │
Minutes ← 16 ├ ║ 60 54 54
│ ║ ── ── ── 25 (x 2)
15 ┤ ║ 6 6 6
── │
24-hours ← 90 │
│
20 ┘
────────────
59 60
↓ ↓
moon 12-hours
Springbarrel: one cap riveted over four studs and brazed, the other pinned over four studs. Spring replaced; it is blued, signed and dated (see above) and measures 30.4 x .4 mm. Spring hooked on studs in the wall and the arbor; the arbor retains the slanted slot, and the stud in the wall apparently occupies the rectangular hole of the original hooking. The round hole for the hooking of the chain was subsequently elongated to take the present hook. Steel set-up wheel of 15.
Stopwork with lantern block and spring integral with the hinged piece. The entire stopwork is made of steel.
Greatwheel: split fusee, cut for chain, 7 turns, steel nose. Two teeth repaired. Internal click: steel wheel of 19, brass clickspring (click and click spring have been re-positioned). The original chain was hooked sideways into the fusee; the present chain is pinned.
The 2nd wheel has been re-planted.
The contrate and scape wheels, which are later, are not gilded.
The under-dial wheels are of steel. The assembly on the outside of the greatwheel arbor is riveted friction-tight over the pipe that fits over the square of the arbor. The minute-hand wheel (16) carries the steel star for unlocking the striking.
The wheels for 12-hours and moon (60 and 59) are friction-tight on brass pipes; they are carried by a steel bridge which protects the minute wheel. The 24-hour wheel (90) is carried by a brass bridge which keeps it clear of the set-up wheel and click.
Quarter striking.
Traincount:
60 50 50 45
── ── ── ──
7 5 5 5
Spring barrel: cased spring, the brass wall engraved with a floral patern (one attachment piece repaired in steel). Spring later; blued, 14 x .4 mm. Spring now hooked over steel studs in the wall and arbor, the the wall has a rectangular aperture and the arbor the slanted slot of the original hooking.
Great wheel: split construction. Steel ratchet wheel, 21 teeth; steel click, brass clickspring.
2nd wheel: 10 lifting pins. This wheel carries the brass countwheel.
3rd wheel: cam for indexing and overlift. Wheel and cam are mounted on a decoratively turned brass pipe which was forced over the square steel arbor.
4th wheel: brass stud on the band for locking.
Brass fly; the piovots run in blind holes.
Brass detend and arms.
Unwarned striking with hammer lifting off the 2nd wheel, indexing and overlift off the 3rd and locking on the 4th wheel.
A pin on the countwheel used to unlock the principal hour-striking train; it now unlocks the after-strike train (see below).
Hour striking.
The entire train is missing, but the remaining holes show that it was very similar to the quarter striking train. There are blind pivot holes for the fly.
The train, which will have been unwarned, was unlocked by a connecting lever which was lifted by a pin on the countwheel of the quarters. The remaining detend and arms are of brass. The connection with the after-strike train, which was warned, took place via two steel levers on the principal movement.
Alarm.
The alram train was mounted on a plate on the right side of the movement, attached to the top plate of the movement by a screw. The outside of the alarm plate is engraved with fowers resembling those of the latches.
The inner plate of the train and all the moving parts are missing. THe train consisted of two wheels and a scape wheel.
After-strike.
Plated movement, constructed largely of brass but with steel pillars and detends. Two square plates connected at the corners by four simple pillars of square section; the pillars are screwed at top and bottom with brass nuts. The movement is attached to the bottom of the base by a hook and a stud, being secured by a steel latch on the front plate.
The back plate is engraved with a geometric patern of straight and circular bands. The gilding of the bands was burnished, the background is matt. The visible parts of the movement (outside of back plate, countwheel and four nuts) are gilded. Some steel parts have traces of high polish, notably the hinged part of the stopwork and the fusee-nose.
Traincount:
60 ┌ 48 48 35
── │ ── ── ──
8 ┤ 8 6 5
│
4 ║ ┤
── ║ │
12-hour ← 52 ║ │
│
4 ║ ┘
── ║
(24-hour ← 200)║
Springbarrel: one cap pinned over four lugs, the other brazed (the wall was held in position by four similar lugs). Both caps have raised centres. Spring later; blued, 25 x .4 mm. Spring hooked at both ends over studs riveted into the arbor and the wall, but the arbour retains the slanted slot, and the wall the rectangular hole, of the earlier hooking. Steel set-up wheel of 18. Conventional stopwork.
Greatwheel: split fusee of brass, 9 turns, cut for chain (chain missing, see Commentary). Internal clickwork; steel ratchet wheel of 16, steel click, brass click-spring.
2nd wheel: 6 lifting pins (changed from 8, see Conversions). The pinion of report is a lantern cut into the end of the arbor, which has a neatly turned shoulder to prevent the wheel from riding up in the hole.
3rd wheel: brass single disc for indexing (and overlift while switching strike).
4th wheel: on both sides of the wheel there is a stud for locking near the centre. Additionally there is a stud for warning on the band of the wheel; a second stud on the band may have served for a strike/silent construction (now missing). For the action of the striking see below.
Fly: heavy brass fly. The wings are dove-tailed into the main body and are probably an addition.
There are two striking detends: the main one, pivoted between the plates, has arms for indexing and locking; the other, pivoted between the pillars, connects the main detend to the unlocking arm of the principal movement. The warning detend on the principal movment projects through holes to act directly upon the 4th wheel of the after-strike train (compare above). The hammer has been repaired; it strikes the inside of the bell in the base.
The front (upper) plate of the movement has holes and dragmarks to show that there was here a large countwheel, clearly for 24-hour striking. There remains on this side an extra indexing arm and the arbor of the locking detend can still slide, but a cock on the back plate (not gilded and clearly an addition) prevents the arbor from sliding the 12-hour indexing arm out of engagement. The second wheel arbor has traces of a lantern of 4 to drive the second countwheel. The main detend originally had two locking arms, acting on studs on either face of the 3rd wheel (one arm now missing; an empty screwhole appears to be the only remaining trace). When the detend was switched this arrangement allowed the wheel to be free for one turn, thus unlocking the striking.
Warned striking with hammer-lifting off the 2nd wheel, indexing on the 3rd, and both warning and locking on the 4th. For the sequence of warning see above. The disc on the 3rd wheel arbor also provided overlift while switching the striking from 12- to 24-hour.
The top of the base of the clock carries at tis centre a screwed brass pin, which fits intoa hole in the bottom plate of the movement. There are circular drag marks on the base around this pin. It seems likely that these are traces of the shifting-lever for 12-/24-hour strike, which presumably was operated from one of the sides, behind one of the panels.
Automaton.
There is a hole through the centre of each bell mount, which makes likely that there was a small moving figure within the top cage. Since there are no traces for the drive in any of the surviving trains it is likely that the figure was opearet directly by the balance, and that it disappeared when the clock was converted to pendulum.
CONVERSIONS.
The earliest conversion seems to have taken place already during the construction of the clock: this is the change from 8 to 6 lifting pins on the 2nd wheel of the after-strike. If the train had originally been made with 8 pins the change would have necessitated a change of the next pinion (6 in stead of 8) in order that the 3rd wheel make a complete revolution per stroke, which in turn would cause re-planting of either wheel. There is no evidence of this, and therefore the original plan was apparently changed during manufacture. The duration of the train (405 strokes) is amply sufficient; with 8 lifting pins it would have been as many as 540 strokes.
Otherwise the main changes in the clock are the conversion to pendulum (which probably caused the disappearance of the automaton, see Automaton), and the removal of the primary hour-striking train. Both probably occurred in the early 19th century, and the removal of the secret catches for the panels, the fitting of a new glass panel and the changeing of the feet may have formed part of the same overhaul.
PERFORMANCE.
Going train: great wheel - 1 rev. in 4 hours.
escapement - 10125 beats per hour.
duration - 28 hours.
Quarter striking train: greatwheel makes in 24 hours ca.2.8 revs.
After-strike movement: duration - 405 strokes.
All the surviving trains wind counter-clockwise.
MEASUREMENTS.
Clock: height - 466 mm
width - 280 mm
depth - 280 mm
Principal movement: distance between the plates - 114 mm
distance between the bars, going - 37 mm
striking - 32 mm
After-strike movement: distance between the plates - 35 mm
HISTORY AND PROVENANCE.
According to the repair inscriptions the clock was in Paris (Chantilly) at the end of the 17th century, and it seems to have remained in France untill the early 19th century.
Octavius Morgan collection; in 1850 Morgan exhibited the clock in the Society of Arts, London (exh.cat. London 1850, no.416 3)).
Presented by Octavius Morgan, 1867. Reg.1867,7-16,4.
COMMENTARY.
One other clock by this maker has been traced: a horizontal square table clock with with ordinary 12-hour striking and having fusee and chain (Time Museum, Rockford, #1571).
A rather similar clock, also with an extra striking train, by Adam Kluzovicz of Krakow, is dated 1634 4). The engraving of the Kluzowicz clock is not nearly as rich than that of the present one, and the glass panels are not decorated, but it has additionally a caroussel in the top, coupled with the second striking train (there are no holes to suggest anything like that in the present clock).
Several details in the movement are reminiscent of Augsburg work: the comparatively heavy wheels, the lavish gilding of the movement, the type of stopwork in the going train (though here, exceptionally, made entirely of steel), and particulary the traincount of the quarter striking, with three pinions of 5. It seems likely that the maker learned the trade in Augsburg, and indeed there may be a connection between the maker and the Augsburg clockmakers family Wiedmann.
For this type of striking, usually refered to as `after-strike' (german: Nachschlag), see the introduction. It is often confused with grand-sonnerie, but is more simple in that the hour is not repeated at the quarters.
The fusee of the after-strike shows no sign of having been re-cut, and the knot-hole for the gut is very small. It is very likely therefore that this train, like the other ones, originally had chain, hooking sideways at both ends (compare Samuel Haug). Presumably a subsequent restorer drilled the second hole in the barrel cap in order to fit a gut, which to him would appear more authentic.
The signature of the spring of the going train refers to a Paris family of springmakers; the present spring was probably by Thomas Monginot, mentioned as springmaker 1806-12 5). The Pauve who repaired the clock was probably Gilles Bauve, mentioned in Paris 1770 6). None of the other clockmakers that have left repair inscriptions appear to be recorded.
This richly decorated clock has attracted the attention of Polish scholars. The first to illustrate it was Tomkiewicz (1952) in his edition of the inventories of the Polish king Johan Kasimir, who died in France. Tomkiewicz quotes the clock as an example of the sort of wonderful things the King brough with him; he does not suggest that the king actually owned it, no doubt because no description in the inventories matches it 7).
Subsequently the iconography of the clock was analysed in Paszkiewicz (1964): he identifies the saints' figures on the back as St.Barbara and St.Anne, and points out that in Krakow by the middle of the 17th century the church of St.Barbara, which originally had been used by the German community, had been taken over by the Jesuits, whereas St.Anne's was the church of the university. Paszkiewicz also identifies the source of the decoration of the two glass panels. They are a combination of two emblems from J.Typotius, Symbola divina et humana (Prague 1601-3, 2nd ed.1642). Vol.I p.13 shows the bridge with the motto `Aliis in servando consumor', for Nicholas de Ponte, 86th Doge of Venice; p.84 has the candlestick with the extinguished candle and the motto `Splendor vanescens', for Leonora Massaspina, Countess of Terrasana. The symbolism, both of the panels and of the base, clearly refers to death, and it is pointed out that 1648 was the year of the death of the much-loved Polish King Wladislaw IV (1595-1648). It is suggested that the clock may have been commissioned by the late King's half-brother and successor, Johan Kasimir (1609-1672): the latter abdicated in 1668 and passed the rest of his life in France, where he was made abbot of St.Germain-des-Prés, one of the so-called priviledged places in Paris (craftsmen working here were exempted from the guild system). After Johan Kasimirs death his body was returned to Krakow but his heart was burried in the church of St.Germain-des-Prés (North transept).
Paszkiewicz's interpretation is accepted by Siedlecka (1976) and Tait (1983), and indeed is very likely. It would also explain the early French repair inscriptions in the clock 8). Against this is the fact that it does not appear in any known inventory of the King's effects. However it should be noted that there exists another clock which is reputed to have belonged to Johan Kasimir but is not mentioned in these inventories 9). It is conceivable therefore that there were more possessions of the King that we do not know about.
It may be noted that the one surviving original glass panel with wheel-engraving is among the earliest surviving examples of glass decorated in this technique, thought to have been first used by in the early 17th century.
---------------------------
-----------------
1) The words "machina trina" appear to refer to the three functions of the clock: indicating the time, striking the hours, and waking the sleeping.
2) The early glass has many small irregularities in both surfaces, the other one is almost perfectly flat.
3) Described as "A Clock, by L. Weidman. XVI CENT. O.Morgan, Esq.M.P.". In spite of the brief description and the incorrect spelling there need be no doubt about the identity of the clock.
4) Private collection. See Vehmeyer (1994) no.29. This seems to be the clock which first appeared in HJ (April 1898) 106-7, and was subsequently described in Britten 1 (1899) 83-6 (and other eds.).
5) Tardy (1971/2) 470.
6) Lloyd, who appears to have had incomplete information about these inventories, quotes an entry which does not exist in the documents (Lloyd [1964] 73).
7) Tardy (1971/2) 35.
8) The place name Chantilly suggests that the subsequent owner may have been the Prince de Condé, who owned the castle of Chantilly, but that is speculation.
9) Clock by Caspar II Buschmann of Augsburg, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (see Introduction - Provenance).
Countwheel subsidiary: brass wheel riveted to brass disc (three rivets).
Spring barrel after-strike brazed with white brazing; the wall brazed with an overlap.
Measurement of the chain: 68.5 mm over ten outer links (= 20 rivets).
The cut-out in the quarters-bar shows that this train had to be mounted first, the cut-out is to allow the spring of the other train to pass.
According to Lloyd (1964) 72, 206 note 146 there is a published inventory of the clocks in the estate of Johan Kasimir: Inventory by two clockmakers, Jean Pavin and Thomas Merkley of King John Casimir of Poland, 1673, Abbey St Germain de Prés. Zn Dziejon Proposkiejo Mecenatem, Artystysznegor, Warswa, 1952. This includes a clock which could be this one.
Notes of Rockford 1984 mention a square table clock by this maker (app. horizontal), with glass panels with ordinary 12-hour striking and fusee and chain (#1571).
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BIBLIOGRAPHY (Pauline Wholey – 2019)
4) Vehmeyer (1994) - H.M.Vehmeyer, Antieke Uurwerken, een familieverzameling (Houten 1994).
5) Tardy (1971-2) - Tardy, Dictionaire des Horlogers Français (Paris 1971-2).
6) Lloyd (1964) H.A.Lloyd, The Collector's Dictionary of Clocks (London 1964).
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Text from 'Clocks', by David Thompson, London, 2004, pp. 28-31.
Lucas Weydman
Tabernacle clock
Krakow, 1648
Height 47 cm, width 28 cm, depth
By the mid-seventeenth century, the art of making finely-decorated clocks had spread from the south German centres of Augsburg, Nuremberg and Munich as far east as Poland. One particularly popular type was the tabernacle clock, like this fine example. It is designed to strike the hours and the quarters but is also rare in having a secondary mechanism, housed in the base, to strike the hour again after the main striking, as a reminder. This system, known as 'Nachschlag' in sixteenth-century Germanic clocks, is found to this day in church clocks in France and Italy.
The case of this magnificent clock is finely engraved around the base, with scenes depicting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and their temptation and fall, each accompanied by a Latin text. The front dial plate is engraved with a townscape incorporating four angels and the signature 'Lucas Weydman Cracow A.D. 1648'. The two side doors are inset, most unusually, with engraved glass panels. Hugh Tait, in 'Clocks and Watches', an earlier survey of the Museum's collection, discussed these panels and identified their origins in J. Tipotius' 'Symbola Divina et Humana', first published in Prague in 1601. He also identified the symbolism of the image of the two heads in the clouds blowing out a candle as a reference to the death of King Wladyslaw IV Wasa in 1648. The recurring theme of large birds on the roofs of buildings, engraved on the various dials, may be a reference to the same theme. One of the glass panels is original but the other, which is much clearer and flatter, is likely to be a nineteenth-century replacement.
Within the case is a two-stage movement. The upper stage has undergone considerable alteration, but originally had a going train with verge escapement and balance control. There were two trains for striking the hours and the quarters and an alarm. The base of the clock contains a second hour-striking train, released by the main hour-striking mechanism to repeat the hour a few moments after the first striking sequence for anyone who failed to count the first time.
The main dial on the front has a single steel hand to show the time. An outer ring is marked for minutes 5-60 and also I-IIII for the quarters. Within this is a silver chapter ring with hours I-XII and T-shaped half-hour marks. In the middle of this chapter ring is a rotating dial consisting of three overlaid discs: the one at the bottom calibrated 1-12 for alarm setting, the middle disc numbered 1-30 for the age of the moon, and the upper disc with two hands; the larger to show the time, and the smaller to indicate the age of the moon. In the upper disc is an aperture which reveals the phase of the moon and in the very centre is a simple aspectarium showing the astrological relationship between the moon and the sun. The lower silver dial at the front has a single hand which rotates once in twenty-four hours to show Bohemian or Italian hours, where each day begins at sunset. The centre is engraved with a view of a town, with a large bird flying over it.
The back of the clock is engraved with a townscape in which stand depictions of St Barbara, carrying her attribute, a tower, and St Anne holding a book with large letters. In the background, on the horizon, is a tower with a large bird on the roof. There are two silver dials, the one to the right, numbered 1-12, shows the position of the hour-striking count-wheel. In the middle it is engraved with a townscape and a bird. The left dial is numbered I-IIII to show the position of the quarters count-wheel and is also engraved with a townscape. There are three winding holes and also smaller holes for releasing the striking trains to synchronize them with the time shown on the main front dial.
Repair marks on the inside provide evidence that the clock was in France between 1686 and 1836 but it is thought that it may have originally have belonged to King Jan Kazimierz II Wasa (1609-1672) crowned in 1648 following the death of his brother Wladyslaw IV.
Presented by Octavius Morgan, 1867.
- Location
- On display (G38/dc4)
- Acquisition date
- 1867
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1867,0716.4
