Aaron Crane Torsion Pendulum Clock

Object Details

Crane, Aaron

Description

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."

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.

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.

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.

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."

Location

Currently not on view

ca 1850

ID Number

ME.319768

catalog number

319768

accession number

241309

Object Name

clock

Other Terms

Clock; Mechanical, Spring-Driven; Shelf Clock

Physical Description

marble (overall material)

brass (overall material)

metal, "brass" (movement material)

mineral, stone (base material)

Measurements

overall: clock: 21 in x 11 in x 5 in; 53.34 cm x 27.94 cm x 12.7 cm

bolt: 3 3/4 in x 19/32 in; 9.525 cm x 1.524 cm

torsion pendulum: 5 in x 5 in; 12.7 cm x 12.7 cm

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

base: 1 13/16 in x 13 1/4 in x 9 in; 4.572 cm x 33.655 cm x 22.86 cm

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

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

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

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

brass finial #1: 3 1/4 in x 1 in; 8.255 cm x 2.54 cm

brass finial #2: 3 1/4 in x 1 in; 8.255 cm x 2.54 cm

brass finial #3: 3 1/4 in x 1 in; 8.255 cm x 2.54 cm

brass finial #4: 3 1/4 in x 1 in; 8.255 cm x 2.54 cm

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

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

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

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

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

Place Made

United States: New Jersey, Newark

See more items in

Work and Industry: Mechanisms

Industry & Manufacturing

National Museum of American History

Record ID

nmah_856583

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-a2ff-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa