World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

Nowadays one can purchase antique clocks almost in every antique store. You may find that this is a kind of avocation for successful people.

On the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries mantelpiece and room clocks began usually to be found. Iron was the stuff for such clocks at that time and they were wound with the help of loads. The very first mantel clocks were similar to tower clocks. They had the same scheme and elements.

People used wall's consoles to insert there clocks in the Gothic epoch. Years later wooden console became the element of the clocks' body. The style of it corresponded to the entire style of the clock. Of course, in the Renaissance epoch and later it was 1 of the most significant parts of a room's decoration. They were a part of the whole decoration ensemble where all the particulars had to be done due to the major fashion of the age. A few centuries later appeared professional clockmakers. They tried to give face to every clock they created. We can mark out such notable people as Roentgen, Goutier and Benemann. They made real works of art and at that time they were unequalled exemplars that had no analogues in the world. But in the XVIII century diverse clockmakers began to remake the prototypes of the most beautiful clocks.

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