Gothic-style German chamber clock

Weight driven, striking, iron wall clock by an unknown maker, Germany. Forged iron frame consisting of four corner posts, surmounted by four curved corner bars, which form a canopy supporting a bell. The canopy bars carry rosettes. The front has a pierced iron plate on which hour figures are painted. The movement contains a verge and foliot escapement, with adjustable weights, and a striking mechanism which operates without warning.

Clocks of this sort were amongst the earliest available in Europe for domestic use. Like the tower clocks of the period, the frame is held together with wedges and the movement is regulated by a verge escapement with an adjustable bar foliot. This clock was almost certainly brightly painted when it was first made.

Clockmakers' Museum No. 572