Keeping Time: Clocks in the Royal Collection
Extraordinary timepieces in the Royal Collection, 1630-1830
Mantel Clock
1790RCIN 30390
This combined clock and musical box takes the form of an African woman wearing a turban. Her head contains the clock, and the time is shown in her eyes: the hours appear in Roman numerals in her left eye and the minutes in Arabic numerals in the right eye. The pupils slide back to reveal the time at ten minutes to the hour, and close at two minutes past the hour. They can be reopened at any time by pulling the right earring. Pulling the left earring meanwhile activates the music box in the base, which contains a sixteen-pipe organ. Eight tunes can be played, four of which have been identified as popular French songs of the time.