Augsburg Clock
Cabinet Clock
1700-1725 (made)
1700-1725 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Clocks like this extraordinary piece were famous Augsburg products in early modern times. They showcased the city’s excellence in creating luxury goods, including the decoration of Meissen porcelain.
Gemstones, additional silver mounts and precious veneer from different sources were added in the 19th century to suit the tastes of collectors, such as Lord Roseberry, British Prime Minister from 1894-5. His wife Hannah inherited the great Rothschild mansion Mentmore, where this clock resided until it became part of the Gilbert Collection in 1977. Arthur Gilbert enthused that this clock exhibits ‘every form of decorative art that you could possibly imagine'.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Gemstones, additional silver mounts and precious veneer from different sources were added in the 19th century to suit the tastes of collectors, such as Lord Roseberry, British Prime Minister from 1894-5. His wife Hannah inherited the great Rothschild mansion Mentmore, where this clock resided until it became part of the Gilbert Collection in 1977. Arthur Gilbert enthused that this clock exhibits ‘every form of decorative art that you could possibly imagine'.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 33 parts.
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| Title | Augsburg Clock (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Wood, boulle marquetry and tortoiseshell, silver and gilded silver (silver-gilt), inlaid mother-of-pearl, ivory, enamel and brass, pietre dure, cut garnets, turquoise, micromosaic, velvet, porcelain, mirror glass, gilt bronze, oil on copper |
| Brief description | Silver-gilt wood, tortoiseshell, silver, mother of pearl and other materials, Augsburg; 1700-1715 and later |
| Physical description | A cabinet clock of architectural form in three sections: a base with shaped borders and volutes at the corners; a central body; and a top storey with a lantern. The cabinet is faced in tortoiseshell, with borders and Corinthian columns at each corner of silver-gilt. Chinoiserie panels, inlaid mother-of-pearl, ivory, enamel and brass are set around the base and upper storey. The front of the upper storey bears a large mother-of-pearl plaque inlaid with Chinoiserie motifs and relief designs in silver-gilt. Small silver statuettes of Buddha adorn the volutes at the base, the centre of the upper storey, and the pediment of the lantern. Figures from classical mythology appear on the sides of the cabinet. On the front of the base is a red, velvet-lined drawer containing a Meissen tea service consisting of nine pieces. Below this is another drawer containing a removable square silver-gilt inkwell and pounce pot, and having two rectangular compartments, probably intended to hold pens and keys. There are six keys; one large and five small. The mother of pearl dial applied with cut garnets and turquoise, the arms are made of micromosaic. The clock mechanism has a calendar movement and is quarter striking. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | APOLLO DEUS ARTIUM
MERCURIUS LEGATUS DEORUM (On right and left and side of the clock)
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| Gallery label | (Gallery 70, case 5)
Table clock
Clock, 1720–40, with later elements. Tea service, 1720–30
Popular with 19th-century collectors, luxury products from Augsburg like this clock and tea service were embellished further with silver mounts and precious veneers. This clock belonged to Archibald Primrose, fifth Earl of Rosebery and Prime Minister from 1894 to 1895. Primrose married Hannah de Rothschild, a keen art collector, in 1878. To Arthur Gilbert, this clock celebrated ‘every form of decorative art that you could possibly imagine’.
Clock: Augsburg, Germany.
Tea service: made in Meissen, Germany; decorated in Augsburg, Germany
Silver, gilded silver, ebony, ivory with decoration in tortoiseshell, lacquer, glass, micromosaic, mother-of-pearl, glass, pietre dure (hardstone mosaic), oil on copper, garnets, turquoise, brilliants, painted porcelain, enamel and brass
Museum no. Loan:Gilbert.3-2008(16/11/2016) |
| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance: Fifth Earl of Rosebery, Mentmore Towers Sale, Sotheby's, lot 1053, 20/05/1977; Ronald A. Lee, London, 1977. |
| Historical context | The clock was probably made for a member of the aristocracy. Anna Maria Massinelli sees a link with the politically influential countly family Schönborn based upon the repeated use of the motif of a rhinoceros in combination with the Schönborn coat-of-arms on works of art from the same period. |
| Production | Containing an engraved and incised silver frame in the manner of Andreas Thelot (Augsburg 1655-1734); and Meissen porcelain tea service with Augsburg Hausmaler decoration, the gilding attributed to a member of the Seuter family |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Clocks like this extraordinary piece were famous Augsburg products in early modern times. They showcased the city’s excellence in creating luxury goods, including the decoration of Meissen porcelain. Gemstones, additional silver mounts and precious veneer from different sources were added in the 19th century to suit the tastes of collectors, such as Lord Roseberry, British Prime Minister from 1894-5. His wife Hannah inherited the great Rothschild mansion Mentmore, where this clock resided until it became part of the Gilbert Collection in 1977. Arthur Gilbert enthused that this clock exhibits ‘every form of decorative art that you could possibly imagine'. Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | MM 264 - Arthur Gilbert Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.3:1-2008 |
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| Record created | June 26, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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