What does fusee mean on a wall clock?

It's the drive. A fusee is a grooved cone linked to the spring barrel by gut line or chain, and it evens out the mainspring's pull as it unwinds. The word runs through the category, appearing in 485 titles, usually paired with "dial" in the English wall clocks.

How are wall clock sizes given?

By dial diameter. It's the category's own unit of measurement, quoted in 35 titles. The range in the samples runs from a 6-inch and two 7-inch dwarf dials up to 18-, 20-, 32- and 33-inch industrial and factory dials. Ten to twelve inches is the ordinary size, and both extremes are treated as selling points.

Which wall clocks are most common on Sellingantiques?

English fusee dial clocks, by a distance. "Dial" appears in 513 titles and "fusee" in 485, and the drop-dial version accounts for 173 more. Vienna regulators are the second group, at 194 titles. French cartel clocks in gilt bronze make up a smaller band, around one in twenty.

Are railway and military wall clocks part of this category?

Yes, and they run deep. Railway appears in 40 titles, with GWR, LNER, LMS, GNR, South Eastern and British Railways all represented. GPO and London Passenger Transport Board clocks turn up too, along with RAF and Army issue examples dated 1943, 1945, 1951 and 1952. A documented user tends to place a clock in the upper half of the range.

What period do most of these date from?

Late Victorian is the centre of gravity. The 1890s and 1880s are the two biggest decades, followed by the 1900s, 1930s and 1860s. The dated field spans 1750 to 1960 overall, with a distinct interwar tail. Around a third of dated listings carry a label such as "19th Century" or "Victorian" instead of a year.

Do unusual wall clocks turn up?

Now and then. The samples include a hook-and-spike clock given as circa 1710, a lozenge-cased verge timepiece put at the late 17th century, a moving-windmill automaton dial and a French mystery globe clock. There's also a skeleton wall clock and one advertising chocolate. Origins beyond England, Germany and France are thin: single appearances from Sweden, Switzerland and Japan, a Dutch Frisian stoelklok and a Belfast postman's clock.

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Antique Wall Clocks

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A clock made to hang on a wall, from the plain round dial that told the time to a whole hall or office to the slim glazed regulator that hung in a parlour.