Table clock, Marquart, Jacob, Augsburg, 1567
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1567
Table clock, Marquart, Jacob, Augsburg, 1567 is an object recorded by Victoria and Albert Museum, dated 1567. The museum's brief description reads: Square table clock of brass and iron, damascened, engraved and partly gilded, signed by Jacob Marquart of Augsburg and dated 1567.. Museum description: Table clock with alarm in square brass case on four bun feet, whose underside has sundials and calendars. The brass clock dial with applied copper chapter ring on the top surface is a later alteration from around 1700. The flat iron sides are lightly engraved and damascened with strapwork. The movement of the clock is mounted between two iron plates 175mm square finely engraved with strapwork on both surfaces. The movement has been extensively altered but still contains: the going train with engraved brass barrel, fusee and chain; the striking train with engraved brass barrel and 'nag's head' release; the alarm train with plain brass resting barrel and single-end bell hammer whose tail engages with a ratchet-toothed wheel. Inside there are 3 brass dials no longer with any mechanisms attached: a ring with the zodiac signs; a ring marked 1 to 12; a disc numbered 1 to 7 with weekday… The museum record gives material recorded as Brass, Iron, gold, Silver, Steel; measurements Height 10.4 cm; Width 21.5 cm; Depth 21.5 cm; Diameter 14.6 cm; Thickness 0.6 cm; Weight 7.02 kg; place associated: Augsburg; maker recorded: Marquart, Jacob. These details come from the holding museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
Clocks were luxury items designed to impress as well as educate. By the 1550s it was fashionable for wealthy gentlemen to have a sound understanding of all branches of learning, from art and literature to mathematics and the natural sciences. Clocks such as this were housed alongside automatons and scientific instruments such as astrolabes and sundials in Scientifica, collections celebrating human ability to control nature. Shallow, horizontal clocks resting on small feet such as this were made in Europe from the middle of the fifteenth century until the eighteenth century and came in a variety of shapes including square, hexagonal, octagonal and drum shaped. In fact so important were such clocks to the repertoire of the clockmaker in the cities of Augsburg, Nuremberg and Ulm, that apprentices were given eight months to make an elaborate horizontal clock to demonstrate their fitness to practise. Many South German examples incorporated astronomical, astrological and calendar information in their dials.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Brass, Iron, gold, Silver, Steel
- Dimensions
- Height 10.4 cm; Width 21.5 cm; Depth 21.5 cm; Diameter 14.6 cm; Thickness 0.6 cm; Weight 7.02 kg
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Brass and iron, raised from sheet, engraved, damascened and gilt
- Maker recorded
- Marquart, Jacob
- Place recorded
- Augsburg
Design
- Inscriptions recorded
- Inscribed on base following a square outside the dials: JACOB. MARQVART. VON. AVGSPVRG. BIN. IH. GENANT. MEIN. NAM. IST. IN WELSLANDT. GAR. WOL. BEKANT. DER. HAT. DAS. WERCK. GEMACHT. FIRWAR. IM. 1567. IAR. AIN. SVNENVR. IST. DAS. GENANT. AVF. WELS. VND. DEISCH. LANDT. ERKANT
Identification
- Museum object name
- Table clock
- Museum object number
- 9035-1863
- Museum system number
- O121003
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm materials, dimensions, maker and wider type against the holding institution and a specialist reference.