Collection close
Image for Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image
Image for Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image
Image for Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image
Image for Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image
Image for Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image
Image for Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image
Image for Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image
Image for Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image
Image for Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches
tooltip-icon Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Zero

Download Image
  • arrow_forward_ios
  • arrow_forward_ios
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail
Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches Thumbnail

Table Clock with the Twelve Earthly Branches

Miyake Masatoshi (Japanese, active 1825-1875) (Artist)
1854 (Edo period (1615-1868))
Gilded copper alloy, silver, steel, copper, glass

On the face of this Japanese clock are 12 dials separating the 24 hours in a day: the traditional system divides daytime and nighttime into six periods each, whose lengths change with the seasons. The 12 dials—representing the ancient Chinese cosmological system of 12 earthly branches—automatically move to allow for either more daytime or nighttime hours, depending on the season.

Inscription

kaie nana nen saizai ki-no-e tora ni gatsu / miyake masatoshi tsukuru; [Translation] Second month of the seventh year of Kaie (1854), the year of the tiger / made by Miyake Masatoshi

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.

William T. or Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

Share

Geographies

Japan (Place of Origin)

Measurements

H: 1 5/16 × Diam: 2 3/8 in. (3.3 × 6 cm)

Credit Line

Bequest of Henry Walters, 1931

Location in Museum

Centre Street: Fourth Floor: Across Asia - Arts of Asia and the Islamic World

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

58.253

Do you have additional information?

Notify the curator