VESNA LOVRIĆ PLANTIĆ
Art historian, The Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb
TABERNAKL SAT A. FROMANTEELA
Prilog poznavanju povijesti ranih satova s njihalom
A. FROMANTEEL BRACKET CLOCK
Contribution to understanding the history of early pendulum clocks
Journal 8/2012 (Museum of Applied Art), pages 37-44
UDC:
739.3:681.11.21(497.5)”1658” ; 739.3:069.51(497.5)”1658”
ID 195688972
Abstract (original language):
U zagrebačkom Muzeju za umjetnost i obrt čuva se tabernakl sat čiji su mehanizam i ukrasna ploča s brojčanikom rađeni oko 1680. godine, a u XVIII stoljeću umetnuti u novo kućište. Izvorni sat je rad poznate urarske radionice Fromanteel koja je već 1658. počela izrađivati satove sa njihalom u Engleskoj, samo godinu nakon prvih haških radova S. Costera. Zagrebački primjerak je jedini njihov sat koji u signaturi ima naveden Haag kao mjesto izrade, što je osobito zanimljivo budući da nema arhivskih podataka o tome da su Fromanteeli imali radionicu u navedenom gradu. Ta signatura koja se nalazi na stražnjoj platini naknadno je djelomično prekrivena graviranim viticama, a na kasnije dodanoj luneti nad brojčanikom upisana je druga s različitim podacima o autoru i mjestu izrade. Sat je izuzetan i zbog postojanja indikatora sekundi što je neobično za rane tabernakl satove i zbog rijetke tik-tak zaprečnice. Sve to čini ga nezaobilaznim primjerkom u proučavanju opusa porodice Fromanteel i ranih satova s njihalom uopće.
Key words: (original language)
Fromanteel, Haag, prerada, sat s njihalom, tabernakl sat
Summary:
This paper analyses the bracket clock from the collection of the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, signed on the arch of the decorative plate Albertus Fromanteel London, and on the back plate A = Fromanteel (the name of the place covered). After conducted research, it has been established that the original clock, the mechanism and the dial of which have been preserved, was made around 1680 and that it is one of the earliest pendulum regulated clocks. It was made in the workshop of the Fromanteels, the first clockmakers making bracket clocks in England, and Ahasuerus senior and his son Abraham most probably worked together on making it. Apart from that, it has been discovered that on the signature covered later on the Hague was marked as the place where the clock was made, which makes it unique as there are no records that the Fromanteels ever worked in that city. The so called tic-tac escapement is very rare, as well as an early use of the additional seconds dial. Based on archive data and some technical characteristics, it is assumed that the clock was made in London workshop of the famous Dutch clockmakers family, and that the Hague signature was an attempt to enter the local market. When in the second decade of the 18th century arched dial become fashionable, the semi-circular attachment was placed on the decorative plate giving information on the clock maker–Albertus Fromanteel, probably the imaginary clockmaker whose name was mistakenly concluded based on the initial A written on the original signature. The clock went through its last alteration at the end of the 18th century when it was placed into a black glass-covered case with late Baroque and Classicist decorative and functional elements. The detailed analysis of the clock, its original and additional parts, gave us an important new insight in the study of early pendulum clocks within European context. Formanteel clock certainly is one of the most valuable assets of the Museum of Arts and Crafts collection and serves as a proof that Croatia played an important role in the European cultural milieu historically and nowadays alike.
You can download PDF of the article 
(806 KB)