Clocks, Domestic, General Friesland alarm timepiece

Clocks, Domestic, General Friesland alarm timepiece. This is described as a timepiece, not a clock, as it has no striking mechanisms. Following Huygens' pendulum invention of 1656, pendulum clocks and timepieces were soon put into production by clockmakers in the Netherlands and various characteristic types became established. One of these, which the Dutch described as a 'Stoelklok', became known in the United Kingdom as a Friesland clock, from the area in the Netherlands in which it was usually made. The timepiece is mounted on a bracket, surmounted by a hood and has simple decorative side pieces on either side of the dial. It has a short, light pendulum linked with a verge escapement. The striking hammer is inside the bell. ©SSPL/Science Museum