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Vienna, first half of the 19th century
- signed
- "Ratzenhofer in Wien"
- Clockmaker
- Johann Baptist Ratzenhofer, Vienna
- *1812, 1838 master, †1859
- Case
- polished mahogany veneer, boxwood stripe inlay, Corinthian capitals, pediment with bull’s eye fillet
- Dial
- silver-plated dial, small seconds indication,
inscription "6 apertures and escapement of stone" - Movement
- brass movement encased with glass panels, six jewel bearings (= "apertures"), Graham anchor with diamond pallets, seconds pendulum with spring suspension, oval off-center weight – positioned behind the pendulum
- Technique
- duration of one year!
- Measurements
- 61¾ in
Viennese year-going regulators from the first half of the 19th century are extremely rare and represent a technical peak achievement of their era. Even in F. Kaltenböck‘s standard work on Viennese clockmaking, only a handful of authentic wall clocks of year-long duration are mentioned, and in our more than 45 years of working with Viennese timepieces, only a small number of these masterful clocks have come to our attention.
The creation of an elegant movement with a duration of one year was reserved for only a few exceptionally skilled experts. All friction losses in the gear train had to be kept to a minimum. To protect special movements from dust, which could impair their precision, they were often encased in glass. This magnificent year-going clock features a finely crafted movement with jewel bearings and an anchor with diamond pallets. Such a masterpiece of craftsmanship not only crowns any collection of significant Viennese timepieces from the first half of the 19th century but was also of the utmost importance the life‘s work of its master.
The famous clockmaker Johann Baptist Ratzenhofer, one of the best of his time, was born in Vienna in 1812 as the son of master clockmaker Mathias Ratzenhofer. He received the title of master in 1838 and took over his father‘s business in 1841. At the 1845 Vienna Industrial Exhibition, he presented “a pendulum clock that needs to be wound only once a year”. It is possible that the timepiece mentioned in contemporary sources is identical with the important one year-going clock shown here.