Shelf Clock
date: label: date made
content: ca 1817
name: label: maker
content: Terry, Eli
notes: label: Description
content: Eli Terry manufactured this clock in 1817 or 1818. Inside its plain box case, the clock features a label with an equation-of-time table for setting clocks with a sundial.
label: Description
content: The equation of time refers to the relationship between clock time and sun time. As the relationship of Earth to the sun changes with the seasons, the sun appears to run faster or slower than the clock. The differences between the unvarying clock and the sun accumulate as the year progresses and are charted, like on this clock, as the equation of time.
label: Description
content: Terry was one of a handful of a handful of Connecticut inventors and entrepreneurs who transformed the way clocks were made in the United States in the opening years of the 19th century. Recognizing a vast potential market for low-cost domestic clocks, Terry and his associates Seth Thomas and Silas Hoadley applied water-powered machinery to clockmaking. One of the proving grounds of the American Industrial Revolution, clockmaking changed from a craft to a factory process in which machines mass-produced uniform, interchangeable clock parts. This manufacturing technique appeared in other industries about this time and became known as "the American system" of manufacturing.
label: Description
content: The process called for a whole new kind of clock. The first mass-produced clocks had movements of wood, instead of scarce and expensive brass. Although the earliest of these wooden clocks had long pendulums and fitted into traditional tall cases, about 1816 Terry designed a distinctly American clock small enough to set on a mantel or shelf. Sold largely to rural buyers by itinerant merchants, these clocks played an early and significant role in transforming the rural North from overwhelmingly agricultural to a modern market society.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanisms
label: See more items in
content: Measuring & Mapping
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ME.317663
label: catalog number
content: 317663
label: accession number
content: 231229
objectType: label: Object Name
content: clock
label: Other Terms
content: clock; Mechanical, Weight-Driven; Shelf Clock
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (case material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (movement material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 20 1/2 in x 13 7/8 in x 4 in; 52.07 cm x 35.2552 cm x 10.16 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 20 1/2 in x 13 7/8 in x 3 3/4 in; 52.07 cm x 35.2425 cm x 9.525 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: container: 6 3/4 in x 4 in x 3/8 in; 17.145 cm x 10.16 cm x .9525 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: container: 7 1/4 in x 5 in x 2 in; 18.415 cm x 12.7 cm x 5.08 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: container: 7 1/4 in x 5 in x 2 in; 18.415 cm x 12.7 cm x 5.08 cm