Miniature clock in the form of an elephant supporting a watch case

Miniature clock in the form of an elephant supporting a watch case

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hardstones—which were found in abundant supply and variety in the mines of Saxony and Silesia—are the focal element in much German goldsmiths' work and galanterien of the eighteenth century. The carving of stones into naturalistic and zoomorphic forms has been traditionally associated with Dresden, where the court jeweler Johann Melchior Dinglinger (1664–1731) produced ornamental figures of great skill and inventiveness composed of jewels, hardstones, and gold; such pieces are invariably unmarked, however, and their origin cannot be considered certain. In addition to this piece only one other comparable model is known, an agate bull supporting a watch, also in the Museum's collection (48.185.1), evidently from the same workshop. The bull clock is about fifteen years earlier in date and somewhat less finished in several details of carving and goldsmithing, but it shares with this piece, in addition to the basic design, such devices as the leaf-strewn base and hinged compartment. Although made for this piece, the watch does not appear to be original to it; the unusual placement of the numbers on the dial and the pastel enameling indicate a date of about 1770.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Miniature clock in the form of an elephant supporting a watch caseMiniature clock in the form of an elephant supporting a watch caseMiniature clock in the form of an elephant supporting a watch caseMiniature clock in the form of an elephant supporting a watch caseMiniature clock in the form of an elephant supporting a watch case

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.