Art Deco Clock Monochrome

by Jenny Revitz Soper

Title

Art Deco Clock Monochrome

Artist

Jenny Revitz Soper

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

I found this French Art Deco marble mantle clock with bronze figures of a woman feeding two gazelles in the parlor of a bed and breakfast in San Francisco in the Alamo Square Historic District. The district is filled with gorgeous restored Victorians dating from the 1880s. I have stayed there twice, much to my delight.

Clock design was heavily influenced in the 1920s and 30s by Art Deco, a machine-like aesthetic for a fast-paced industrial age. No object escaped the streamlined touch of Art Deco, including clocks, whose cases often echoed the geometric architecture of the day.

The French and Swiss were the leading producers of Art Deco clocks in Europe. The French excelled in clocks for the mantel made of marble, onyx, brass, glass, and chrome. Many of these clocks sported columns on their sides and Roman numerals on their faces. Other clocks were designed for desks. These would frequently sit on bases of marble, below which were nickel feet, with the clock flanked by a pair of inkwells, which most contemporary collectors today use for paper clips and other dry office items.

Some French clocks were paired with bronze figurines of, for example, Diana the Huntress, complete with ivory bow and green onyx shield. Animals were also common, with bronze, fantail doves, lovebirds, and gazelles being trendy choices.

This is No. 3 in the series. It is a black-and-white (monochrome) version without a border.

Uploaded

January 10th, 2017

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