Clock, Part of a Five Piece Clock Garniture
Decorative Arts and Design
Composed of newly made machine parts, this clock garniture (a set of decorative objects for display) is an overt celebration of the machine and industrialization. Just a generation earlier, political reformers and writers such as Charles Dickens were preoccupied with the negative aspects of the Industrial Revolution, including the blight of polluted, overcrowded cities. By 1885, as the Eiffel Tower rose in Paris, a tamer, less menacing vision of the factory and machine had emerged; industrial design could now function as the emblem of a capital city or—as here—as a collectible for an entrepreneur. If one turns the base of the large candelabra, the cogs engage and the candle holders move up and down.
MANUFACTURER
Andre´ Romain Guilmet, 1827–1892
MEDIUM
Nickel-plated metal, glass, paper, mercury
DATES
ca. 1880
DIMENSIONS
height: 15 1/2 x 8 x 8 in. (39.4 x 20.3 x 20.3 cm) (show scale)
MARKINGS
unmarked
COLLECTIONS
Decorative Arts and Design
ACCESSION NUMBER
2009.49.1
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Marcus S. Friedlander, by exchange
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Clock with thermometer and month calendar, upper section comprises a thermometer with measurement in 'Fahrenheit' on one side and 'Reaumur' on the other,mid section is a large globe with at top, a small rectangular glass window, with a month calendar,printed in black ink on textile, text in French,turning mechanism of calendar are mirrored,two small cog wheels on pins; beneath calendar, the central section of globe comprises a white clock dial, with black roman numerals for hours and a single hour and minute hand. Beneath clock are attached individual industrial tools such as tuning fork, hammer and compass and cog wheel, the whole on a flat disc base,on four protruding feet.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Andre´ Romain Guilmet (1827–1892). Clock, Part of a Five Piece Clock Garniture, ca. 1880. Nickel-plated metal, glass, paper, mercury, height: 15 1/2 x 8 x 8 in. (39.4 x 20.3 x 20.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcus S. Friedlander, by exchange, 2009.49.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 2009.49.1-.5_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE
group, 2009.49.1-.5_PS6.jpg.
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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