{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O375770"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O375770/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2022NG0954/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2022NG0954/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2022NG0954","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AU4946","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KE0102","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O375770/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O375770","accessionNumber":"35-1866","objectType":"Clock","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"In the sixteenth-century, mechanical clocks represented the highest point of Western European technological ingenuity. They were owned by the wealthy and displayed as examples of scientific novelty. Despite this, they were not dependable time-keepers and people still relied on the movement of the sun and stars to determine the passage of time accurately. The clock on this example is a later replacement, but the construction of the piece, in which a mythical monster supports the dial, is common to other clocks of the period. It is also typical of sixteenth-century workmanship that the clock mechanism is concealed in the base and not in the figure itself. The monster, a griffin, would have opened its beak and flapped its wings as the hours struck. Only the development of the steam engine in the late eighteenth century ended the dominance of the mechanical clock in the world of Western technology.","physicalDescription":"Clock supported by an automated winged monster of gilded copper with traces of paint, on a base of gilded copper engraved with plants, snails and reptiles, set with three silvered copper dials. The base rests on four cast feet in the shape of pomegranates. The clock dial supported by the monster is a later replacement, and the mechanism for this clock may be as well.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gilt copper","id":"x34723"},{"text":"copper","id":"AAT11020"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Gillding ","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2022NG0954","2006AU4946","2017KE0102"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"CA001","id":"THES388286"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Clock supported by a mechanical winged monster","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1600-1625","earliest":"1600-01-01","latest":"1625-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"340","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"227","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"280","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"4433.3","unit":"g","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The Museum purchased the clock in 1866 from a Mr Myers.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Gilded copper with traces of paint, Southern Germany, 1600 - 1625.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Maurice, Klaus and Otto Mayr, eds. <u>The Clockwork Universe: German  Clocks and Automata 1550-1650</u>. New York: Neale Watson Academic  Publications, 1980. Catalogue of the exhibition held Bayerisches  Nationalmuseum, Munich, 15 April - 30 September 1980 and Smithsonian  Institute, Washington DC, 7 November 1980 - 15 February 1981. ISBN  0882021885."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Maurice, Klaus. <u>Die deutsche Räderuhr</u>, 2 vols, Munich, Beck, 1976. ISBN 3406062970."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Chapuis, Alfred and Edmond Droz. <u>Les Automates. Figures artificielles d'hommes et d'animaux: Histoire et technique</u>. Neuchâtel: Éditions du Griffon, 1949. "},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>The Marvellous Mechanical Museum</u>, ed. A. Harrison. Catalogue of the exhibition held at Compton Verney, 30 June - 30 September 2018. Compton Verney: Compton Verney, 2018. ISBN 978-1-9999659-1-4."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Clock, gilt metal, the dial supported by a griffin standing on a pedestal chased with foliage and strapwork. Augsburg, 16th centy. H. 13 in. L. of pedestal 11 in. W. 8 in.","date":{"text":"1866","earliest":"1866-01-01","latest":"1866-12-31"}},{"text":"Table clock\r\nSouth German; early 17th century.\r\nCopper gilt.\r\nThe figure of a winged monster adapted from an engraving by Martin Schongauer (about 1430-1491).\r\n(The large dial restored).\r\n35-1866","date":{"text":"1980s?","earliest":"1980-01-01","latest":"1989-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["35-1866"],"accessionNumberNum":"35","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1866,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-03-01","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}