Clocks, Domestic, General Bracket clock, Dutch, c 1675

Clocks, Domestic, General Bracket clock, Dutch, c 1675. An early example of a pendulum clock made by Johannes van Ceulen of the Hague, Netherlands. Van Ceulen made clocks for Christiaan Huygens (1629-1693), the maker of the first pendulum clock in 1656. A single main-spring drives both the going and the striking mechanisms. The pendulum is suspended between curved 'cheeks', as recommended by Huygens so that its time of swing should be independent of the arc of the swing, but these are too sharply curved to give correct compensation. The red velevet background to the dial is typical of early Dutch bracket clocks. ©SSPL/Science Museum