Clock
DesignerDesigned by
Archibald Knox
(British (English), 1864-1933)
ManufacturerManufactured and sold by
Liberty & Co., Ltd., London
(British (English), established 1875)
Datecirca 1902 - 1905
MediumPewter with mother-of-pearl inlay, copper hands, and original winding key
DimensionsOverall: 15 x 6-3/8 x 5 in. (38.1 x 16.2 x 12.7 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mary and Roy Cullen in honor of Wiley Garcia
Object number1999.69a-b
Status
Not on viewArchibald Knox was one of the most influential designers in early modernist British decorative arts. Working for Liberty & Co. of London, the premier design firm in turn-of-the-century England, he almost single-handedly defined the British art nouveau style. Knox often combined in his metal pieces an ancient Celtic vocabulary inspired by the interlace ornament of early Irish illuminated manuscripts and medieval stone carvings with an economic modern line. For example, while he drew inspiration for the shape of this clock from monumental stone crosses of his native Isle of Man, he has reduced the traditional Latin cross shape to an accentuated vertical top abutting a broad cross bar. The clock is also notable for its restrained use of Knox’s signature art nouveau whiplash style in the repoussé numbers on the clock’s face.
H. C. (Horace Clifford) Westermann
2 April 1976 (postmark)
