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Table clock

case 1554, movement ca. 1680
Not on view
The underside of the case bears the punchmark ND, in this period probably the mark of the clockmaker, not the casemaker. The engraved band on the side of the case reproduces a 1549 print by Hans Sebald Beham (1500–1550) titled Triumphal Procession of the
Noble Glorious Women, which was also used as a model for the reliefs on the base of the clock. The clock is signed by Caspar Behaim. Although it is often possible to trace the sources of their designs, very little is known about sixteenth-century clock casemakers. The watch movement was probably installed relatively recently, perhaps when the present hand was made.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Table clock
  • Maker: Clockmaker: Caspar Behaim (Chasparus Bohemus) (Austrian, active 1568–84)
  • Date: case 1554, movement ca. 1680
  • Culture: German, possibly Nuremberg
  • Medium: Case: gilt brass; Movement: iron stackfreed mechanism
  • Dimensions: Overall: 1 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (3.2 × 6.4 cm)
  • Classification: Horology
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.1513
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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