Clock

David Roentgen

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Its severe architectural form makes the case of this clock as imposing a classical monument. Typical is the use of finely grained mahogany veneered, applied from a single sheet from the frieze at the top down to the base, combined with brass inlay and gilt-bronze mounts. The base, enamel dial with bold roman numerals, and steel hand that indicates the day of the month make it an ideal timepiece for a desktop. Displayed on the rolltop desk with Chinoiserie, its simplicity looks like an anachronism. It is, however, a perfect match when the rolltop is lifted (see ill.). The movement is attributed to Élie Prudhomme, a Moravian clockmaker in Neuwied. The dial is signed Jean Thomas/Petersbourg. Thomas, a Swiss clock maker who lived in Saint Petersburg in the early nineteenth century, may have repaired the movement.

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