Creative Commons License
Table Clock
(Renaissance Europe )
This clock indicates the hours (1-24) on the main dial and the quarter hours on the lower dial. When the clock was made in 1573, minutes were not in common use (as they were hard to measure); time was usually divided into hours and quarter hours.
The sides of the case were intended to be removed. On the exterior of the left panel is engraved the image of the Habsburg emperor Charles V (Caesar Carolus); the panel on the right has on the inside a sundial (for setting the clock) and a compass ("north" had to be established to read the sundial). On the exterior is engraved the figure of the Old Testament king, David.
The original spring mechanism of the clock was replaced by a pendulum in the late 1600s to improve its accuracy, and at that point, balls were added to the feet to increase the height.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 5/13/1958 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 1/9/1978 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 1/27/1978 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 12/13/1979 | Examination | examined for loan |
| 4/3/1987 | Treatment | cleaned; loss compensation; stabilized |
Geographies
Slovakia, Schemnitz
(Place of Origin)
Germany, Nuremberg (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 9 1/4 × W: 5 1/8 × D: 5 1/8 in. (23.5 × 13 × 13 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
58.245