1943.947: Longcase Musical Clock
TimepiecesA 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
View this object's location on our interactive map
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
-
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.
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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