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Wall clock
Possibly designed by: Edouard Lievre (French, 1829–1886)
Retailed by: L'Escalier de Cristal (French, active 1802–1923)
Atelier of: Lahoche, Pannier et Cie (French (Paris), 1867 – 1885)
Retailed by: L'Escalier de Cristal (French, active 1802–1923)
Atelier of: Lahoche, Pannier et Cie (French (Paris), 1867 – 1885)
French
about 1880
Medium/Technique
Bronze, gilded bronze, enamel
Dimensions
Overall: 95.6 × 40.3 × 24.8 cm (37 5/8 × 15 7/8 × 9 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Frank B. Bemis Fund and William Francis Warden Fund
Accession Number2018.2110
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsTools and equipment – Timekeeping
Furniture – Clocks
Furniture – Clocks
DescriptionBanjo-shaped hanging wall clock with gilt bronze case, cloisonne enamel dial and upper portion. The dial ground color is turquoise with red, white, black, and yellow enamels surrounded by a gilt frame. In the center of the face is a coiled dragon in green enamel with red, yellow, white, and black highlights. The chapter ring has Chinese numerals in black enamel set within white reserves, and the gilded hour and minute hands imitate bamboo. A dragon with a red enamel tongue descends from the upper portion. The unsigned clock movement is attached to the back of the hinged dial, which is secured by a hook at the right.
Marks
not marked
ProvenanceBy 1883, possibly William Henry Vanderbilt (b. 1821 – d. 1885) and Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt (b. 1821 – d. 1896), New York [see note]. About 2010, acquired in New York by Margot Johnson Gallery, New York; 2018, sold by Margot Johnson to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 26, 2018)
NOTE: Either this clock or a nearly identical clock—possibly the example at the Art Institute of Chicago—once hung in the Japanese parlor of the Vanderbilt home at 640 Fifth Avenue in New York, as illustrated in Edward Strahan, Mr. Vanderbilt's House and Collection (Boston, 1883-1884) and shown in an 1883 photograph.
NOTE: Either this clock or a nearly identical clock—possibly the example at the Art Institute of Chicago—once hung in the Japanese parlor of the Vanderbilt home at 640 Fifth Avenue in New York, as illustrated in Edward Strahan, Mr. Vanderbilt's House and Collection (Boston, 1883-1884) and shown in an 1883 photograph.