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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Clock type · Domestic

Balloon Clocks

Verified

A French and English mantel clock case form of the late eighteenth century, so named for its case silhouette resembling an inverted hot-air balloon, associated particularly with the Louis XVI and English Directoire-influenced periods.

Movement & mechanism

  • Spring-driven, typically fusee-and-chain in English examples, going barrel more common in French work
  • Verge escapement in the earliest examples, giving way to anchor or, in higher-grade French work, platform escapements as the period progressed
  • Striking, where fitted, generally on a bell via a rack or locking-plate system

Identification

  • Distinctive rounded, waisted case silhouette narrowing toward a shaped plinth, resembling an inverted balloon basket, is the defining visual identifier
  • Enamel or painted dial with Arabic or Roman numerals typical of the late eighteenth century
  • Fine veneered or lacquered casework, often with brass inlay or ormolu mounts in higher-grade examples

Terminology

  • Balloon case — the descriptive English term for this rounded silhouette, in use since at least the nineteenth century
  • Bracket clock — the broader English category within which balloon-cased examples are usually classified

Known variations

  • English fusee balloon clocks
  • French going-barrel balloon (pendule) clocks
  • Balloon-cased bracket clocks with quarter or musical striking

Collecting notes

Balloon clocks are collected within the wider English bracket-clock and French Louis XVI mantel-clock fields, with case veneer condition, dial originality, and (in English work) fusee movement originality all bearing materially on interest and value.

Related photographs

Bracket clock movement
Bracket clock movement — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain. Wikimedia Commons file page
Clocks; a bracket clock formerly in the possession of the Ea Wellcome V0023857
Clocks; a bracket clock formerly in the possession of the Ea Wellcome V0023857 — Unattributed Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY 4.0. Wikimedia Commons file page
Bracket Clock MET 241216
Bracket Clock MET 241216 — Creator:Stephen Van Wyck, CC0. Wikimedia Commons file page

No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.

Sources & references

  1. Britten, F. J., Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.