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Dolmabahce Palace Clock Museum
[Originally distributed by TurkC-L. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TurkC-L ]
x0x Dolmabahce Palace Clock Museum By ISMET SONMEZ Clocks are used whenever needed however they are convicted to be easily forgotten just because they are tools that indicate time. On the other hand when watches and clocks unite with art, they become an important document and reflect the fashion, the daily experience and the culture of the period which they belong. Also the clocks that are being exhibited in Dolmabahce Palace Clock Museum could be considered as 'documents that enlighten the history' with their mechanical features that reflect the time period that they had been used. In the museum, you can see the examples of artistic clocks that were made in the 18th and 19th centuries. We are proud to see the works of Turkish clock craftsmen besides French and English. ARTISTIC CLOCKS The industry revolution in Europe had introduced the economy concept and the saying "time is cash" to daily life. As a consequence the clocks that indicate the exact time without any errors began to gain importance. The craftsmen not only produced clocks with least possible errors but also they created different designs by improving their art. This improvement reached at its highest level in the 18th and 19th centuries. In houses, villas, palaces, over the fire places, consoles, on the tables, walls or standing at the end of a corridor the clocks not only were indicating time but also could be heard at the same time. The effort that had been put in 'catching the right time' with the new inventions which took centuries could be also noticed in mechanics but at the same time, similar systems and their different presentations saved watches and clocks from being monotonous. Being a palace of the 19th century Dolmabahce is a good example to this situation where artistic clock collections of the 19th century more than the 18th century are exhibited. Some of the clocks had had been given as a present, some bought, some custom-crafted; besides indicating the time they had also been used for decorative purposes in accordance with the structure of the palace. BRILLIANT FRENCH CLOCKS The French Clocks, mostly heavy, brilliant, bronze, gold filled, marble, tortoiseshell and silver; because of being the productions of artists, sculptors, foundrymen and clocks craftsmen all together, they can be noticed by their outer appearences apart from their mechanical foundation. Each of them look like a vase, a painting, a sculpture or an extraordinary foundry that indicates time. French clocks are mechanicaly reliable. The quality of the mainspring that are used in clocks and audio set ups, the audio mechanism, the systems that were developed for the non-stop performance of the pendulum, the high quality materials and their sophisticated work; French watches and clocks show tiny elegant differences related to their craftsmen while they run perfectly. HANDMADE ENGLISH CLOCKS After the French clocks you can come across mostly with English clocks and watches in the palace. These clocks are mainly working, legged, can play music, automat, have a calender, have a spiral mechanism unlike French clocks they are crafted from wood, tortoiseshell, silver or crystal. These elegant clocks have a large variety. Different from French tradition sometimes instead of arranging the toothed-wheels back to back using spacing shells, they use a construction which has a spiral mechanism under a single shell. The English watches and clocks that are in to music, have the ability to ring in every quarters, calender system and mufflers are unique mechanisms that hide everything inside. While French clocks are serial produced in the 19th century, English clocks and watches reflect their craftsman. The watches which use the same mechanical construction as the English watches at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century that are German and American, are mostly in the wall-clock form. Austrian clocks are like French mechanical style clocks. They are small, stylish, porcelain table-clocks. In the collection we can find classic wooden Vienna wall-clocks also. TURKISH CLOCK-CRAFTSMEN In the western world horography was run by philosophers and mathematician, equivalent to this in the Ottoman Empire they are called `muvakkit' (which means people who can calculate the exact time using charts and indicators). Those people had to do exact calculations due to the worshiping hours of the islamic religion. Most of the mechanical clocks craftsmen were the grandfathers of those muvakkits just like the Turkish craftsmen who are intellectual about the astronomical time calculations. Turkish clock-craftsmen (especially the grandfathers) had given fine examples of structural formed clocks that, their both inner and outer construction, every movement that they make and each turn could be seen at the same time. In Dolmabahce Palace we can find the examples of the works of the most famous horographs like Eflaki Dede, Mehmet Muhsin and Mehmet Sukru. These people had crafted only a few clocks all through their lives. All of the clocks that belong to Dolmabahce Palace Clock Collection had been repaired in the Clock Restoration Service Depot. They are all running, in safe hands, reliable and serviceable even after centuries. |
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