Getty Museum

Longcase clock (régulateur)

Date

about 1775

Medium

Oak veneered with tulipwood and amaranth with boxwood stringing; gilt-bronze mounts; enameled copper; iron; brass; glass

Culture

French

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

Many craftsmen worked together to produce this longcase clock. The inner workings, or movement, of the clock, the clock’s wooden case, and the enamel dial were all created by different people. The strict guild system in place in France in the late 1700s prevented craftsmen from one guild doing the work of another, so they had to work together to create pieces like clocks. This clock is special because it could tell both mean time, the time kept to the average length of a solar day, and solar time, which is the time based on the actual position of the sun in the sky. Because the sun moves along its path at varying rates throughout the year, mean time and solar time can vary by as much as 15 minutes.

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