In the 19th and early 20th centuries, one of the favorite interior pieces, demonstrating good taste and wealth, were clocks: wall, floor or mantelpiece ones. They were not only practical, but also aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching. The clock made by Gustav Becker was an example of such a decoration for a living room.
Gustav Becker was born in Silesia. He completed his clockmaking apprenticeship in 1837, did his practice in Vienna and then set up a workshop in the Prussian town of Freiburg. Due to the lack of craftsmen he had to work alone at first. Despite all the difficulties, in 1852 his clock design won him the first gold medal at the Silesian Clock Fair. This is also when his trademark was created: a crown, an anchor and the initials G.B. To ensure his products were recognizable and to protect them against fraud, Becker generously stamped not only the mechanism, but also the dial and individual parts.
In the second half of the 19th century Becker was already the owner of a large factory. In 1875 Kaiser Wilhelm commissioned him to produce clocks for the royal court on a wholesale basis. Becker became an honorary member of the Royal Society for carrying out this order. He won numerous prizes at various exhibitions.
Until 1800 Becker’s company mainly produced power-operated (“poise”) wall clocks. They are easy to identify: all the pieces are stamped with a trademark, the weights usually bear initials, and the year of manufacture can be ascertained from the serial numbers. Gradually Becker developed both the mechanical properties and the design of his pieces. The advent of the spring mechanism made it possible to diversify the products: pocket and wristwatch models were included in the range.
The design of interior clocks had to be in line with furniture trends — both simple and more flamboyant. They were almost invariably decorated with hand carvings: floral motifs, relief images of mythological characters and carved columns. The dials were decorated with Roman or Arabic numerals and more or less complicated patterns. The Gustav Becker inscription was made in different fonts.
In 1885 Gustav Becker’s son Paul Albert took charge of the company. Four years later he renamed the company “United Freiburg Clock Factories”, retaining the name of the company’s founder. Under this new name it became one of the most influential suppliers of clocks on the world market. The timepiece on display is a chiming clock with a golden pendulum mechanism protected by an elegant glass door.
Gustav Becker was born in Silesia. He completed his clockmaking apprenticeship in 1837, did his practice in Vienna and then set up a workshop in the Prussian town of Freiburg. Due to the lack of craftsmen he had to work alone at first. Despite all the difficulties, in 1852 his clock design won him the first gold medal at the Silesian Clock Fair. This is also when his trademark was created: a crown, an anchor and the initials G.B. To ensure his products were recognizable and to protect them against fraud, Becker generously stamped not only the mechanism, but also the dial and individual parts.
In the second half of the 19th century Becker was already the owner of a large factory. In 1875 Kaiser Wilhelm commissioned him to produce clocks for the royal court on a wholesale basis. Becker became an honorary member of the Royal Society for carrying out this order. He won numerous prizes at various exhibitions.
Until 1800 Becker’s company mainly produced power-operated (“poise”) wall clocks. They are easy to identify: all the pieces are stamped with a trademark, the weights usually bear initials, and the year of manufacture can be ascertained from the serial numbers. Gradually Becker developed both the mechanical properties and the design of his pieces. The advent of the spring mechanism made it possible to diversify the products: pocket and wristwatch models were included in the range.
The design of interior clocks had to be in line with furniture trends — both simple and more flamboyant. They were almost invariably decorated with hand carvings: floral motifs, relief images of mythological characters and carved columns. The dials were decorated with Roman or Arabic numerals and more or less complicated patterns. The Gustav Becker inscription was made in different fonts.
In 1885 Gustav Becker’s son Paul Albert took charge of the company. Four years later he renamed the company “United Freiburg Clock Factories”, retaining the name of the company’s founder. Under this new name it became one of the most influential suppliers of clocks on the world market. The timepiece on display is a chiming clock with a golden pendulum mechanism protected by an elegant glass door.
