Calendar watch
Thomas Alcock
ca. 1650 · Outer case: leather-covered silver with silver piqué work; Inner case: silver; Movement: gilt brass, steel, partly blued, and silver · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
The concentric chapter rings of this unusual dial indicate the time of tides (presumably at London Bridge), mean solar time (I.XII), the age of the moon in its monthly cycle (1.291.2), and the day of the month (1.31). The moon's phases can be read though the circular aperture in the center disk. The February 1661 issue of Kingdoms Intelligencer, a newspaper published by the English parliament in opposition to the king, reported the loss of a comparable watch by Alcock.
- Artist
- Thomas Alcock
- Date
- ca. 1650
- Medium
- Outer case: leather-covered silver with silver piqué work; Inner case: silver; Movement: gilt brass, steel, partly blued, and silver
- Culture
- British, London
- Department
- European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
- Credit line
- Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
