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Mantel Clock

Patent/design registration not found

Mantel Clock needle 
case
Needle Case (photographs from eBay)

Design Details

Needle Case Type:

Figural

Patent/Registered to:

Unknown

Patent/Design Representation #:

Unknown

Patent/Design Registration Date:

Unknown

Location of Patent/Design Registration:

Unknown

Reference #:

Unknown

Dimensions:

Unknown

Material:

Brass

Name Variations:

Unmarked

Other Variations:

Unknown

Additional Photographs

Side and back views

Top and back interior views

Clock face detail and back interior detail

Bottom views

Facts

Mantle Clock facts

A mantle clock is a small clock or timepiece traditionally placed on the mantel or shelf above a fireplace.  They are also known as shelf clocks.  These clocks were invented in the 1750s by the French and can be distinguished from earlier clocks by their size and decorative or ornate designs.  They became very popular during the Victorian period when many different varieties were manufactured in wood, porcelain or ormolu, a fine gold-mercury amalgam applied to bronze giving an item the appearance of gold.

Mantle Clock facts

History

Mantle Clock history

A clock is a mechanical device used to measure time with hands placed around a circular dial to indicate the hours and minutes.  Prior to the invention of the clock sundials were used to determine the approximate time of day and an hourglass measured the passage of time in a few minutes or an hour.  Around 1300 AD the Europeans created a way to keep time by using balanced weights.  This lead to the development of spring driven clocks in the 15th and 16th centuries which were often produced in the German metal working centers of Nuremburg and Augsburg.  The pendulum clock was invented in 1656 by a Dutch mathematician and a Scottish clockmaker patented the first electric clock in 1840.  Modern clocks use electricity or battery power and often include hours, minutes and seconds, with many displaying the time digitally.

Mantle Clock history

Miscellaneous

Mantle Clock misc

The most famous clock in the UK is the one on Big Ben, the tower on the north end of the British Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster.  Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower.  With a height of 315 feet, the building was designed in the Gothic Revival style and construction was completed in 1859.  The clock's dial, made of iron with 312 pieces of opal glass reminiscent of a stained-glass window, is 23 feet in diameter with the hour hand 9 feet long and the minute hand 14 feet.  Big Ben has become the iconic symbol of the United Kingdom and is often photographed with a red double-decker bus.

Mantle Clock misc