Clock (1908–17): Art, History and Details

Clock (1908–17) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Henrik Wigström (Russian, 1862–1923); House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The use of Russian hardstones in creating precious objects became a hallmark of design from the House of Fabergé. Easily carved, these minerals were sourced largely from the western region surrounding the Ural Mountains. Fabergé's workmasters used colorful stones such as agate, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, rhodonite, and nephrite (jade), seen here in this small desk clock, to create and embellish flower studies, animal figures, and all manner of luxurious accessories.

Object facts

• Title: Clock
• Date: 1908–17
• Creator attribution: Henrik Wigström (Russian, 1862–1923); House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918)
• Culture: Russia, St. Petersburg
• Type: Timepiece
• Technique: nephrite, gold, enamel, diamonds
• Dimensions: Overall: 7.9 x 3.4 x 2.5 cm (3 1/8 x 1 5/16 x 1 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1966.475

A detail from the museum

The face of this small luxurious desk clock features tiny pink enameled roses in place of the customary numbers along with hour and minute hands paved in diamonds.

Collection credit

The India Early Minshall Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Hawley, Henry H. Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967.
• Habsburg, Géza von, and David Park Curry. Fabergé in America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996.
• Tillander-Godenhielm, Ulla. Golden Years of Fabergé: Drawings and Objects from the Wigström Workshop. [Place of publication not identified]: A La Vieille Russie, 2000.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.