Watch

Charles Clay

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A painted enamel scene of Adam and Eve replaces the standard pierced and engraved brass cock for the balance staff on the back plate of this watch. With the ticking of the watch, the silver snake moves around the circumference of the enamel. Automata like this one were often exported to Russia; its probable maker, Charles Clay, is better known for having collaborated with George Frideric Handel in producing a series of musical clocks.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art