Precision and Splendor

Education Intern Isabel Losada examines a pediment clock by 18th-century French clockmaker Lenoble á Paris.

Education Intern Sara Sampoli describes Henry Arlaud and Pierre II Huaud’s gold enamel pendant watch.

Education Intern Vanessa Yuan analyzes a barometer clock by French cabinetmaker Andres-Charles Boulle.

Education Intern Allie Rosen discusses an 18th-century French clock and vase set attributed to clockmaker Jean Martin.

This Gilt-Brass and Silver Table Clock with Astronomical and Calendrical Dials (c. 1653) was made by David Weber. The clock is featured in the exhibition Precision and Splendor: Clocks and Watches at The Frick Collection, on display from January 23, 2013, through March 9, 2014.

The clocks in the exhibition Precision and Splendor reflect some of the major debates about time that have occurred over the last five hundred years. This lecture discusses the relevance of the exhibited clocks  to our understanding of some of the great historic changes in timekeeping, including the Gregorian calendar and the Counter-Reformation, the Copernican revolution, the replacement of solar time with mean time, and the French Revolution's failed experiment with decimal time.
 

The Gilt-Bronze Carriage Clock with Calendar by Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823) and Antoine-Louis Breguet (1776–1858) is featured in the exhibition Precision and Splendor: Clocks and Watches at The Frick Collection, on display from 

Video of the exhibition Precision and Splendor: Clocks and Watches at The Frick Collection produced by Hodinkee.com.

For more information about the conservation of this clock, click here.