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A vertical portion of a sculpted wooden object with elaborate details.

A long stretch of wood, it looks as though it may be part of a banister or a corner of a cabinet. There are several panels separated by sloping edges or faux-columns, decorated in the center with carved or inlaid curling flora designs. At the top left corner there are several metal sculptures which seem to be classical figures holding different objects such as a large ball or a long trumpet.

Gallery Text

Crafted by one of the leading clockmakers in eighteenth-century Amsterdam, this clock displays important information but is also a richly symbolic object. Its elaborately ornamented dial keeps time and indicates the days of the week, the month, the phase of the moon, the lunar date, and the tides. The case, inlaid with woods imported from around the world, is adorned with a gilt brass mount showing Father Time holding an hourglass. Finials representing Atlas and a pair of trumpeting angels rise at the top of the pediment.

The true marvel of this clock is its music. To mark the hour, a set of ten carillon bells powered by an internal gear train sounds one of eight popular tunes.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.947
People
Otto van Meurs, Dutch (1714 - 1783)
Title
Longcase Musical Clock
Classification
Timepieces
Work Type
clock
Date
c. 1750-1775
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Netherlands
Culture
Dutch
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/299862

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2240, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Arts in the Eighteenth–Century Atlantic World
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oak with burl walnut veneer, mahogany inlay (possibly with later additions), walnut moldings, and a gilt brass mount; silvered, gilt and painted brass dial
Dimensions
280.7 x 61 x 33 cm (110 1/2 x 24 x 13 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.947
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Case, mounts, and face by unidentified artists

Publication History

  • [Reproduction only], "Furniture", Bulletin of the Fogg Art Museum, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, November 1943)., repr. in b/w, p. 68
  • James Cuno, Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Ivan Gaskell, and William W. Robinson, Harvard's Art Museums: 100 Years of Collecting, ed. James Cuno, Harvard University Art Museums and Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (Cambridge, MA, 1996), pp. 176-7
  • Masterpieces of world art : Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1997
  • Stephan Wolohojian, ed., A Private Passion: 19th-Century Paintings and Drawings from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, Harvard University, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press (U.S.) (New York, 2003), p. 22, fig. 17
  • Stephan Wolohojian, Ingres, Burne-Jones, Whistler, Renoir... La Collection Grenville L. Winthrop, exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and Réunion des Musées Nationaux (Paris, France, 2003), repr. in b/w p. 33 as fig. 17

Exhibition History

  • Ancient to Modern, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2012 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 2240 18th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu