This English chiming console clock was produced in the workshop of Edward Stenton in 1670 “in the old manner” — with a single hour hand. In the course of his reforms Peter the Great introduced to Russia the European practice of reckoning dates from the birth of Christ. The time of day began to be measured in hours and minutes. The regular, planned functioning of state institutions demanded a precise frame of temporal reference. The country began to live by the clock which became a vital feature, not only in the homes of the nobility and the civil service, but also on the streets of St Petersburg.

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