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XII.36 Building clock
Maker: unknown
Place:Central Italy
Date:late 16th cent.
Materials:iron
Dimensions:460x460x580 mm
Current inventory:3585
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This building clock has a massive iron enclosure. The elaborate wrought-iron angle pillars are set diagonally and secured by wedges to the two horizontal frames, above and below. The going train and chime train, placed one behind the other, both have a counterweight winding and rope on a pulley with a spiked groove. The original going train almost certainly consisted of only two wheels, with the old contrate wheel instead of the present crown wheel. The conversion to a pendulum system probably dates from the last decades of the seventeenth century. The new contrate wheel is horizontal and the pendulum rod is integral with the verge, as usual in similar designs. The pendulum bob has a half-moon shape. The chime regulator is robustly built as well—and probably original. It is preset for one to six strokes, each repeated after a short interval. The flywheel for regulating the chime movement comprises eight thin curved blades set in pairs. The wedge-and-notch enclosure assembly is unusual and practical for a sturdy but relatively small building clock: in fact, it is rather common in antique hanging clocks of the "Gothic" type. Even the flywheel is distinctive, and the blade arrangement is ingenious and elegant. The six-stroke chime with repeater is typically Italian.

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