{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O157857"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O157857/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CC8157/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CC8157/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009CC8157","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2022NG0987","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2022NG0988","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2022NG0989","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2022NG0990","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O157857/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O157857","accessionNumber":"LOAN:GILBERT.74:1 to 4-2008","objectType":"Florentine court cabinet and clock","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This extraordinary clock cabinet was made in the Grand Ducal workshops in Florence for the daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo III, Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, who was married to the Elector Palatine, Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz. When the elector died, Anna returned to Florence. She was the last of the Medici to live in the Pitti Palace. She left all the Medici treasures to the Florentine state, provided that nothing was ever removed from Florence. \r\n\r\nThe cabinet was not amongst the objects taken back to Florence by the Electress. It was made by two of the greatest artists of the time: Leonard van der Vinne and Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725). Foggini was first appointed Grand Ducal sculptor in 1687, and in 1695 court architect as well as director of the Galleria dei lavori (Grand Ducal workshops). During his tenure (1694-1725) he introduced innovative high-relief carvings to the production of commessi di pietre dure objects. Many if his designs  were cenceived as part of extravagent furnishing schemes for the Medici. Among its elegant details was the use of chalcedony to represent pearls - one of the ways in which Florentine workers showed their skill in making hardstone mosaics in the 17th century. \r\n\r\nThe face of Dionysos in the central panel of the top half of the cabinet was probably carved by the lapidarist Giuseppe Antonio Torricelli (1659-1719). The pink stone used for the skin is calcedonio di volterra, a stone that’s natural hues enhaced the realistic appearance of flesh and facial expressions.\r\n\r\nThe top half and central mosaic below predate the cabinet's enlargement, probably in the 19th century. Hittorff's clock movement has replaced an earlier English movement by Ignatius Huggeford. The cabinet was later acquired for Dorchester House, Park Lane, London.\r\n\r\nSir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes.  Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.","physicalDescription":"Cabinet of ebonised wood with a projecting middle section and a high, moulded plinth. The facade has three doors with gilt bronze grotesque mounts. The upper cabinet is of ebony with stone mosaicc (commessi di pietre dure) panels and includes a clock with a lapis lazuli dial mounted on a pietre dure grotesque face. It is of architectural form with elaborate carved volutes and columns. The interior is lined with silk and embroidered with the initials of Anna Maria, Electress Palatine; the lower section, circa 1860, of ebonised wood, gilt bronze, brass, etc. with an earlier commesso panel, circa 1700.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Giovanni Battista Foggini","id":"A11496"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28674"},"note":"Upper section, Grand Ducal workshops. "},{"name":{"text":"Johannes Hittorff","id":"A22404"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28674"},"note":"Clock Movement, 1704"},{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"hardstone","id":"x37572"},{"text":"mother of pearl","id":"AAT11835"},{"text":"gilt bronze","id":"x35084"},{"text":"wood","id":"AAT11914"},{"text":"brass","id":"AAT10946"},{"text":"ebony","id":"AAT12055"},{"text":"lapis lazuli","id":"AAT11122"},{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"},{"text":"lapis lazuli","id":"AAT11122"},{"text":"onyx","id":"AAT11136"},{"text":"chalcedony","id":"AAT11134"},{"text":"jasper","id":"AAT11151"},{"text":"agate","id":"AAT11135"},{"text":"shell","id":"AAT11829"},{"text":"","id":""}],"techniques":[{"text":"clock making","id":"AAT53600"},{"text":"pietre dure","id":"AAT53615"},{"text":"inlay (process)","id":"AAT53850"},{"text":"gilding","id":"AAT53789"},{"text":"mounting","id":"AAT81370"},{"text":"veneering","id":"AAT53878"},{"text":"embroidering","id":"AAT53653"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Clock movement, pietre dure (hardstone), mother-of-pearl, gilt-bronze, ebonised wood, ebony and brass.","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"},{"text":"Clocks & Watches","id":"THES48976"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2009CC8157","2022NG0987","2022NG0988","2022NG0989","2022NG0990"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"70","id":"THES49725"},"free":"","case":"PL001","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"70","id":"THES49725"},"free":"","case":"PL001","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"015","id":"THES410185"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"015","id":"THES410185"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"70","id":"THES49725"},"free":"","case":"PL001","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"cabinet","id":""}],[{"text":"base","id":""}],[{"text":"key","id":""}],[{"text":"pendulum","id":""}],[{"text":"clock movement","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Florence","id":"x28848"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1704-1705","earliest":"1704-01-01","latest":"1705-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"99.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"top half","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"99.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"bottom half","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"99.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"top half","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"148.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"bottom half","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"20.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"top half","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"53","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"bottom half","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured 12/01/24 IW ","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'AMEP' (for Anna Maria Electress Palatine) embroidered in gold thread and surmounted by the coronet of the palatinate on the silk lining inside the clock cabinet","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Provenance: Anna Maria Luisa, Electress Palatine, Düsseldorf.  Robert Staynor Holford.  Sir George Lindsay Holford, Dorchester House, England.  Sale, Christie's London, lot 81, 13-14 July 1927.  Petite Musée, Montreal, Canada, 1974.\n\nHistorical significance: The upper cabinet is the work of Leonardo van der Vinne (fl.1662-1713) and Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725). The use of pietre dure in relief is typical of the Grand Ducal workshops under Foggini. His designs for similar work  are contained in his journal of sketches preserved in Florence.\r\n\r\nThe lower plinth was  probably made for Robert Staynor Holford (1808-92) who bought the clock cabinet for display at his palatial London home, Dorchester House, Park Lane, which was designed by Lewis Vulliamy (1791-1871) based on the Villa Farnesina in Rome and built between 1857 and 1859. His collection included important Italian paintings, furniture and works of art.\r\n\r\nThe lower plinth incorporates a panel which dates from about 1700 and incorporates the representation of a pearl necklace - a tromp l'oeil motif produced from the mid-17th century by the Florentine workshops. The art critic Filippo Baldinucci described a table made in 1658 for Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1608-71) citing 'the pearl necklace, so realistic that it deceives the eye and the hand too of anyone who touches it'.","historicalContext":"It is probable that the clock cabinet (the upper section) was made in 1704-05 as a present from Cosimo III de' Medici to his daughter Anna Maria Luisa (1667-1743) who had married the Elector Palatine, Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz (r. 1690-1716), in 1691.\r\n\r\nAnna Maria Luisa returned to Florence after her husband's death where she enjoyed the Medici family collections.","briefDescription":"A table clock composed of stone mosaic panels and gilt bronze elements, Giovanni Battista Foggini, Grand Ducal workshops, Florence, 1704-05; clock movement Johannes Hittorff, Bonn, 1704; on a lower section ca. 1860 (central panel in lower section ca. 1700). ","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"'Two Collections Donated to Los Angeles Museum', <u>American Horologist and Jeweler</u> 44, no. 4, Denver, Colorado, 1975, pp. 44-45."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar. 'Taccuino delle Pietre Dure: Attorno al Foggini', <u>Antologia di Belle Arti</u>. Rome, March 1977, 1, no 1, figs. 1,3,4."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"'Los Angeles County Museum Receives Gift of Silver and Mosaic Collection'. <u>Lapidary Journal</u>. April 1977, 31, no. 1. pp. 198-201."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hagans, O. R. 'In the Spotlight'. <u>Horological Times</u>, 1, no. 5, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1977, p. 31."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Wilson, Janet. 'Collecting Mosaics, Piece by Piece'. <u>Realities</u>, no. 11, Pennsylvania, May/June 1980, p. 100."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar and Steffi Röttgen with essays by Steffi Röttgen, Claudia Przyborowski; essays and new catalogue material translated by Alla Theodora Hall. <u>The Art of Mosaics: Selections from the Gilbert Collection</u>. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1982. 224 p., ill. Cat. nos. 7, 8. ISBN 0875871097"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Irmas, Deborah. 'Pieces of a Lost Art: The Dazzling, Puzzling Gilbert Mosaics'. <u>Almanac</u> 18, no. 4. Franklin Center, Pennsylvania, September/October 1986, pp. 13-21."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Six, Mickey. 'Toveren mit Stenen'. <u>Cachet. Tijdschrift voor kunstliefhebbers</u>. Hilversum, Netherlands, May 2004, no.27,  pp. 25-29."},{"reference":{"text":"Casciu, Stefano (ed.), <i>La principessa saggia : l'eredita di Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici Elettrice Palatina</i>, Livorno : Sillabe, 2006","id":"AUTH357812"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Massinelli, Anna Maria with contributions by Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel. <u>Hardstones: The Gilbert Collection</u>. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd. in association with The Gilbert Collection, 2000. 329 p., ill. Cat. no. 10, pp. 51-55. ISBN 0856675105."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Schroder, Timothy, ed. <u>The Gilbert Collection at the V&A</u>. London (V&A Publishing) 2009, p. 69, plate 51. ISBN9781851775934"}],"production":"Upper section 1704-05; central panel on lower section ca. 1700; lower section ca. 1860.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"acanthus","id":"AAT164902"},{"text":"grotesque","id":"AAT10211"},{"text":"necklace","id":"AAT46001"},{"text":"pearls","id":"x39965"},{"text":"convolvulus","id":"x39098"},{"text":"scrollwork","id":"AAT10205"},{"text":"volutes","id":"AAT1729"},{"text":"fruit","id":"AAT11868"},{"text":"flowers","id":"x35571"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Mosaic cabinet and clock\r\nUpper section and central panel below: 1700-05\r\nLower section: about 1860\r\n\r\nGiovanni Battista Foggini made this clock cabinet for Anna-Maria Luisa de' Medici (1667-1743), wife of the Elector Palatine. The panel included chalcedony to represent pearls. This was one of the ways in which Florentine craftsmen showed their skill in making hardstone mosaics (<i>comessi di pietre due</i>) in the 17th century.\n\nThe plaque was set in its current base in the 19th century, and the cabinet was acquired for Dorchester House, Park Lane, London. This was the home of the art collector and MP Robert Stayner Holford (1808-92), and later became the Dorchester Hotel.\n\nCabinet: Florence, Italy; upper section Grand Ducal Workshops, Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725)\nClock: Bonn, Germany; Johannes Hittorff (1757-1836)\n<i>Pietre dure</i> (hardstone mosaic), ebony, gilded bronze, brass, mother-of-pearl and ebonised wood\nMuseum no. Loan:Gilbert.74:1, 2-2008","date":{"text":"2024","earliest":"2024-01-01","latest":"2024-12-31"}},{"text":"Mosaic cabinet and clock\r\nUpper section and central panel below: 1700–05\r\nLower section: about 1860\r\n\r\nGiovanni Battista Foggini made this clock cabinet for Anna-Maria Luisa de’ Medici (1667–1743), wife of the Elector Palatine. The panel set in the base (a later addition) includes chalcedony to represent pearls. This was one of the ways in which Florentine pietre dure workers showed their skill in making hardstone mosaics in the 17th century.\r\n\r\nCabinet: Florence, Italy; upper section Grand Ducal Workshops\r\nGiovanni Battista Foggini (1652–1725)\r\nClock: Bonn, Germany; Johannes Hittorff (1757–1836)\r\nPietre dure (hardstone mosaic), ebony, gilded bronze, brass, mother-of-pearl and ebonised wood\r\nMuseum no. Loan:Gilbert.74:1, 2-2008","date":{"text":"16/11/2016","earliest":"2016-11-16","latest":"2016-11-16"}},{"text":"Mosaic cabinet and clock\r\nUpper section and central panel below: 1700-5\r\n\r\nFoggini made this clock cabinet for Anna-Maria Luisa de' Medici (1667-1743), wife of the Elector Palatine. Among its elegant details in pietre dure was the use chalcedony to represent pearls, one of the ways in which the Florentine workers showed their skill in making hardstone mosaics in the 17th century.\r\n\r\nThe top half and central mosaic below predate the cabinet's enlargement, probably in the 19th century. Hittorff's clock movement has replaced an earlier English movement by Ignatius Huggeford. The cabinet was later acquired for Dorchester House, Park Lane, London\r\n\r\nCabinet: Italy, Florence: upper section Grand Ducal Workshops, Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725)\r\nClock: Germany, Bonn; Johannes Hittorff (1757-1836)\r\nPietre dure (hardstone mosaic), ebony, gilded bronze, brass, mother-of-pearl and ebonised wood\r\nMuseum no. Loan:Gilbert.74:1,2-2008","date":{"text":"2009","earliest":"2009-01-01","latest":"2009-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["LOAN:GILBERT.74:1-2008","LOAN:GILBERT.74:2-2008","LOAN:GILBERT.74:3-2008","LOAN:GILBERT.74:4-2008","LOAN:GILBERT.74:5-2008"],"accessionNumberNum":"74","accessionNumberPrefix":"LOAN:GILBERT","accessionYear":2008,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"MM 137"},{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"SG 189"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","cabinet","base","key","pendulum","clock movement"],"assets":["2019LM5754","2019LN7576","2019LU9141","2019LU6088","2019LV3318","2019LX0127","2019LW8870","2019LW1083"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-15","recordCreationDate":"2008-06-26","availableToBook":false}}