Watch
The man in the cameo traditionally was believed to be a sixteenth-century member of the Fugger family of Augsburg, but that is not borne out by surviving Fugger portraits. The cameo may instead be part of the "Dürer revival" of the early seventeenth century.
The Italian Renaissance brought with it a wholehearted embrace of classical antiquity throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Emulation of ancient cameos played a large part. Carvers invested ancient myths with increasingly refined compositions and techniques, paying close attention to the latest archaeological discoveries. Demand for Italian carvers took them to all the courts of Europe. Milan in particular developed a taste for cameos with wondrous atmospheric effects.
Artwork Details
- Title: Watch
- Maker: Watchmaker: Wilhelm Peffenhauser (German, Augsburg, born 1618, master 1647, died before 1683)
- Artist: Cameo cut by P. Schweyger (active Augsburg, 1540–50)
- Date: watch ca. 1650, cameo 16th–17th century
- Culture: German, Augsburg
- Medium: Case: agate, onyx cameo, with cover of enameled gold set with gemstones (rubies); Dial: engraved gold and silver; Movement: gilded brass and steel, partly blued
- Dimensions: Overall: 1 1/2 × 1 1/16 × 3/4 in. (3.8 × 2.7 × 1.9 cm);
Overall (visible cameo): 13.8 × 11 mm - Classification: Horology
- Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
- Object Number: 17.190.1517
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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