Images(2)

Table Clock

Dateca. 1775

Retailed by Matthew Boulton (1728 - 1809)

Retailed by John Fothergill (died 1782)

OriginEngland, Birmingham

MediumGilt brass, bronze, watch movement (glass, enamel, steel)

DimensionsOH: 15"; OW: 9 1/8"; OD: 5 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1983-287

DescriptionAllegorical table clock composed of a figure of the Roman Emperor Titus standing beside an ormolu pedestal ornamented with swags and fitted with a thirty-hour watch movement, and having an urn above with an oval plaque of Clementia. The pedestal engraved "Diem Pedid", all standing on a fluted ormolu base.
Label TextOrmolu, or gilded brass, table clocks were among the luxury goods manufactured by the partnership of Matthew Boulton and John Fothergill. In this example, a bronze figure of the Roman Emperor Titus stands beside a gilded brass pedestal fitted with a thirty-hour watch movement. Beneath the clock face is the Latin phrase Diem Perdid, meaning “I have lost a day” or “Another day wasted.”
InscribedThe ormolu pedestal engraved "Diem Pedid" in script beneath the clock face.

Exhibition(s)