Counting The Hours
During the great wave of tower clock building in 14th century Europe, around the time of the invention of the mechanical clock itself, striking clocks were built that struck the bell multiple times, to count out the hours. The clock of the Beata Vergine (later San Gottardo) in Milan, built around 1330, was one of the earliest recorded that struck the hours. In 1335, Galvano Fiamma wrote:
| “ | There is there a wonderful clock, because there is a very large clapper which strikes a bell 24 times according to the 24 hours of the day and night, and thus at the first hour of the night gives one sound, at the second two strokes, and so distinguishes one hour from another, which is of greatest use to men of every degree. | ” |
The astronomical clock designed by Richard of Wallingford in 1327 and built around 1354, also struck 24 hours.
Some rare clocks use a form of striking known as "Roman Striking" invented by Joseph Knibb, in which a large bell or lower tone is sounded to represent "five", and a small bell or high tone is sounded to represent "one". For example, four o'clock would be sounded as a high tone followed by a low tone, whereas the hour of eleven o'clock would be sounded by two low tones followed by a high tone. The purpose is to conserve the power of the striking train. For example, "VII" would be a total of three strikes instead of seven, and "XII" would be four strikes instead of twelve. Clocks using this type of striking usually represent four o'clock on the dial with an "IV" rather than the more common "IIII", so that the Roman numerals correspond with the sequence of strikes on the high and low bells. One small table clock of this type sold from the George Daniels collection at Sotheby's on 6 November 2012 for £1,273,250.
Read more about this topic: Striking Clock
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