A German Clockmaker and His Work 
CLOCKS TN THE EMPIRE STYLE 
their clocks in wood, and the German 
clockmaker has many charming examples 
of these wooden clock cases, mostly in 
mahogany, either of solid or veneered. The 
best of these cases are distinguished by 
the simplicity and beauty of their designs and 
the fine markings of the wood. Manv local 
regions in this country have a tradition of 
famous clockmakers who made beautiful cases 
as well as excellent works. The mahogany 
mantel clocks of fifty or seventv-five years 
ago have much charm of design and marking, 
and are now greatly prized. 
Idle French have been specially famous 
for the application of metals and stone to the 
manufacture of clock cases. Some of the 
most elaborate examples in the German 
clockmaker’s little museum are of French 
clocks in metallic cases. Iron, brass, silver 
and even gold have thus been used. Marble 
and rarer stones have been much utilized by 
the French in the manufacture of clock cases, 
and have been imitated in metal by means of 
paint. One of the most curious and inter¬ 
esting clocks in the collection is wholly en¬ 
cased in richly carved glass. This clock is 
of French workmanship. The Japanese 
clocks are entirely of metal, and some of the 
early Dutch clocks are largely of that 
material. 
While the German clockmakers delight 
in producing toys, the French have long been 
fond of giving their clocks unusual forms. 
One French clock in the workshop-museum 
is in the form of Atlas upholding the world. 
Idle dial occupies part of the convex surface 
of the globe. A dozen variants of this idea 
have been embodied in French clocks, and 
the invention of these odd designs does not 
necessarily imply special skill in clockmaking, 
but ingenuity directed toward the production 
of the bizarre, rather than the best and most 
accurate time-keeping machines. It is notice¬ 
able, indeed, that these elaborate and curious 
clocks are apt to be very bad guides in the 
matter of time. They are easily thrown out 
of repair and difficult of adjustment, so that 
they are commonly neglected after the nov¬ 
elty of the thing has worn off. 
Few clocks can be wiselv permitted to go 
without winding to the end of the period 
which they are supposed to run. The eight- 
day clock may keep good time if wound once 
a week at a fixed hour, but the thirty-day 
clock should be wound at least once a fort¬ 
night. The French have been especially 
successful in producing compact clocks that 
require winding only at long intervals, but 
even the best of these clocks, if they 
are to keep good time, must ordinarily 
be wound long before they would actually 
run down. 
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