Aaron Crane Torsion Pendulum Clock
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1850
name: label: maker
content: Crane, Aaron
notes: label: Description
content: Aaron D. Crane (1804-1860) of Caldwell, New Jersey, was a clockmaker of brilliant inventiveness who worked outside the mainstream. Most of his contemporaries concentrated their energies on the mass production of technically unremarkable clocks. Crane was a versatile inventor whose best-known work, the torsion pendulum clock (patented in 1841), was startlingly original. This clock employed a torsion pendulum, slowly revolving about the vertical axis in alternating directions, and incorporated a new escapement of Crane's own design. It worked with such freedom of friction that it was capable of running for extremely long periods. Crane advertised his clocks as "month clocks," "twelve-month clocks," and "376-day clocks." He liked to refer to himself as the "One Year Clockmaker."
label: Description
content: He installed most of his torsion pendulum clocks in unpretentious, rectangular cases, but in the last decade of his life he built a few clocks based on the ornate design of this one. Five survive.
label: Description
content: In addition to telling time, this clock has a dial marked "astronomical" that indicates the day of the year, the position of the sun in the zodiac, the phase of the moon, the length of day and night, and the time of the tides.
label: Description
content: Besides his clocks, Crane tried to market a variety of inventions through a number of businesses in Newark, New York City, and Boston. For all his mechanical ingenuity, he had little commercial success.
label: Description
content: Some twenty years after his death, the torsion pendulum clock was reinvented independently in Germany and marketed as a "400-day clock" or "anniversary clock."
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: New Jersey, Newark
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanisms
label: See more items in
content: Industry & Manufacturing
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ME.319768
label: catalog number
content: 319768
label: accession number
content: 241309
objectType: label: Object Name
content: clock
label: Other Terms
content: Clock; Mechanical, Spring-Driven; Shelf Clock
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: marble (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, "brass" (movement material)
label: Physical Description
content: mineral, stone (base material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: clock: 21 in x 11 in x 5 in; 53.34 cm x 27.94 cm x 12.7 cm
label: Measurements
content: bolt: 3 3/4 in x 19/32 in; 9.525 cm x 1.524 cm
label: Measurements
content: torsion pendulum: 5 in x 5 in; 12.7 cm x 12.7 cm
label: Measurements
content: female figure: 3 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in x 2 3/4 in; 8.89 cm x 8.89 cm x 6.985 cm
label: Measurements
content: base: 1 13/16 in x 13 1/4 in x 9 in; 4.572 cm x 33.655 cm x 22.86 cm
label: Measurements
content: glass panel #1 front: 22 3/4 in x 11 3/4 in x 3/8 in; 57.785 cm x 29.845 cm x .9398 cm
label: Measurements
content: glass panel #2 rear: 22 3/4 in x 11 3/4 in x 3/8 in; 57.785 cm x 29.845 cm x .9398 cm
label: Measurements
content: glass panel #3 left: 22 3/4 in x 7 1/2 in x 3/8 in; 57.785 cm x 19.05 cm x .9398 cm
label: Measurements
content: glass panel #4 right: 22 3/4 in x 7 1/2 in x 3/8 in; 57.785 cm x 19.05 cm x .9398 cm
label: Measurements
content: brass finial #1: 3 1/4 in x 1 in; 8.255 cm x 2.54 cm
label: Measurements
content: brass finial #2: 3 1/4 in x 1 in; 8.255 cm x 2.54 cm
label: Measurements
content: brass finial #3: 3 1/4 in x 1 in; 8.255 cm x 2.54 cm
label: Measurements
content: brass finial #4: 3 1/4 in x 1 in; 8.255 cm x 2.54 cm
label: Measurements
content: top glass and brass frame: 3/4 in x 13 in x 8 1/2 in; 1.905 cm x 33.02 cm x 21.59 cm
label: Measurements
content: brass frame #1: 23 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 3/16 in; 59.69 cm x 3.175 cm x 3.048 cm
label: Measurements
content: brass frame #2: 23 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 3/16 in; 59.69 cm x 3.175 cm x 3.048 cm
label: Measurements
content: brass frame #3: 23 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 3/16 in; 59.69 cm x 3.175 cm x 3.048 cm
label: Measurements
content: brass frame #4: 23 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 3/16 in; 59.69 cm x 3.175 cm x 3.048 cm