The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Pair of vases with covers

David Roentgen: Nemours Clock

Abraham and David Roentgen were renowned German cabinetmakers whose workshop was famed throughout Europe for its exquisite marquetry work and complex mechanical devices. Proportioned for a stately public room or library, this musical clock is likely to have been the first Roentgen object to reach the United States, belonging to Gouverneur Morris, one of the nation’s founding fathers. Not only does it tell time, but it also displays the interior works, which are hidden in most clocks.

This clock, from The Nemours Foundation, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

Video/Audio (4)

David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock
(00:00:52)

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10613 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16640 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3015 views

Pair of vases with covers

I H (British, mid–late 17th century)

Date:: 1675–76
Culture:: British, London
Medium:: Silver gilt
Dimensions:: H. 15 in. (38.1 cm)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1968
Accession Number:: 68.141.152a, b, .153a, b

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 511

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: (Engraved on bottom): 84=4 (weight in troy ounces and pennyweights)

Marking: [1] Leopard's head crowned; [2] Lion passant guardant; [3] S in shield, London date letter for 1675–76; [4] IH, above a fleur-de-lis between two pellets in shaped shield Location of marks: [1],[2],[4] on outside of lid; [4] stamped twice [1],[2],[3] on outside of neck [4] on bottom
Provenance

Earls of Coventry (until 1935; sale, Sotheby's, December 5, 1935, no. 29) ; William Randolph Hearst , St. Donat's Castle, Wales (until 1938; sale, Christie's, December 14, 1938, no. 73); [ S. J. Phillips (until 1961; sold to Untermyer, February 7, 1961) ] ; Irwin Untermyer (1961–68; to MMA)
See also
Who
I H (2)
What
Metal (59,364)

Vessels (21,921)

Metalwork (14,716)

Silver (14,056)

Gilt (9,043)

Vases (8,895)

Caps (1,113)
Where
Europe (148,586)

United Kingdom (25,557)

England (9,102)

London (2,006)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Great Britain and Ireland, 1600–1800 A.D.

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Pair of vases with covers

I H (British, mid–late 17th century)

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David Roentgen: Nemours Clock

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Pair of vases with covers

I H (British, mid–late 17th century)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store