Clock for a Garniture Set (1736–1770): Art, History and Details

Clock for a Garniture Set (1736–1770) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The fascination with Chinese porcelain among aristocratic circles increased during the reign of Louis XV. In reaction to the perceived excesses of elaborate naturalistic ornament of the 1750s, mount makers increasingly turned to neoclassical designs, known as Goût Grec (Greek taste) in the 1760s and 1770s. These beautifully chased gilt-bronze mounts feature classical Greco-Roman motifs such as lion masks, acanthus and laurel leaves, and pilasters.

Object facts

• Title: Clock for a Garniture Set
• Date: 1736–1770
• Type: Furniture and woodwork
• Technique: Chinese hard-paste porcelain, gilt bronze, enameled metal
• Dimensions: Overall: 54 x 20.2 x 20.2 cm (21 1/4 x 7 15/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 2020.421.1

A detail from the museum

A set of vases and clock, connected visually by the use of the same materials, often adorned a mantlepiece or the top of a large piece of furniture, such as a commode or console, within a room.

Collection credit

Gift of Horace Wood Brock

Further reading listed by the museum

• Clifford Ackley, et al. Splendor and Elegance: European Decorative Art and Drawings from the Horace Wood Brock Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2009.
• Clifford Ackley, et al. Splendor and Elegance: European Decorative Art and Drawings from the Horace Wood Brock Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2009.

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.