Bracket clock, Italian, 1680-1690,"Petrus Thomas Campanus Romae".

V&A — Physical description

Bracket night clock. Ebonised wood veneered on oak, surmounted by a scrolled classic pediment of solid wood carved in sections, on which are mounted three gilt metal vase finials and a gilt metal standing figure in Roman armour with a harp (Orpheus?) in the niche. The unglazed and pierced metal dial is painted with a representation of the Flight into Egypt; behind is a two-part circular metal plate, to which the circular clock mechanism is attached, and supported on a horizontal bracket screwed at each end to the case. The moulded plinth is supported on carved and gilded wood paw feet with gilt metal leaf ornament and turned and ebonised back feet. The softwood backing is nailed in place (with hand made nails). A deep door (held on a single, metal sprung clip at the right) occupies the front third of the clock body and contains the dial, window and clock mechanism. Below the painted face is a rectangular glass window, painted black on the reverse and held in place by two lumps of wax. The rear two thirds of the clock body is a static unit, the inside of which provides an empty, undecorated space in which a candle or oil lamp could be placed, a vent for which is placed centrally above (behind the central element of the pediment), over which a metal plate has been nailed, apparently at an early date. The mechanism engraved on the reverse: Petrus Thomas Campanus Inventor Romae Modifications and condition The window under the dial, originally intended to show the pendulum, has been painted black. The gilt brass vases and paw-feet are later additions or replacements, probably English, 19th-century. The veneer is chipped at the front left lower corner and the top right moulding. The painting 'quite worn'. Some signs of corrosion to the metal parts.

V&A — Historical context

The historical background to the invention of the night clock provides a fascinating insight into the practical considerations of the most important patrons of 17th century Rome. Cardinal Farnese, maggiordomo to Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667), was asked to provide a clock for the pope who was unable to sleep during the night due to the noisy ticking produced by the verge escapement on conventional clocks. Farnese commissioned the Campani brothers from San Felice dell'Umbria (Matteo, Pietro Tommaso and Giuseppe), Clockmakers to the Holy See, to create a silent clock that would show the hours during the night without the annoyance of a visible lamp. The time, which can be read through the placement of a lamp or candle behind the pierced dials, would have thus been revealed throughout the day and night. Brusa suggests that the duration of this type of night clock is usually 26-30 hours. This type of night clock was made by many different makers all over Italy for over 50 years, aimed at the wealthy, but were not more widely 'popular because of its high cost and complications.' Brusa notes that the majority of night clocks which have survived (over one hundred) have painted dials, and suggests that these tended to derive from church altars, and that clocks were often considered as symbols of the transience of human life. Around 1710 night clocks were superseded when more precise and less expensive clocks with pull repeating mechanisms were readily available. After the Campani commission, successfully completed in 1656 (a type of patent being confirmed in 1658), the Campani brothers disputed among themselves to whom the credit was due. They went on to create night clocks in a variety of sizes for princes, nobles, ambassadors and other members of the higher échelons of the clergy, as the fashion for such clocks intensified across Italy and the rest of Europe. Pietro Tommaso was the most prolific and renowned of the three. Guiseppe Campani made the celebrated night clock given to Louis XIV by Bernini and Cardinal Antonio Barberini in 1665. The monumental night clocks produced by the Campani brothers involved the collaboration of lapidiarists, sculptors, painters, jewellers, metalworkers, and cabinetmakers of the day including for instance the artist Carlo Maratta, and the German cabinet maker Giacomo Hermann. Similar, but grander clocks can be found in the British Museum, London and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

V&A — Object history

Bequeathed by Colonel G. B. Croft Lyons per Mill Stevenson Esq. FSA, 38 Ritherdon, SW7. (RP 26/6627) Formerly on loan from Colonel Croft Lyons to the museum. Comparable clocks A night clock by P T Campani, decorated with a similar scene, is in the Palazzo Senatorio (Rome), the painting of which has been attributed to Francesco Trevisani (1656-1746); the condition of the painting on the V&A clock does not permit a confident attribution. Literature G. Brusa, Italian Night Clocks, Antiquarian Horology, March 1975, pp.159-167 A. Griseri, 'Un orologico dipinto deal Trevisani', in Bolletino dei Musei Communali di Roma , VII (1960), pp.17-21 Gonzalez-Palacios, 'Bernini as a Furniture Designer', in Burlington Magazine, CXII (1970), p.719-22 E. Morpurgo, Dizionario degli Orologici Italiani (Milan, 1974), pp.32-5 P & D Colnaghi & Co., Objects for a 'Wunderkammer' 1981, pp.84-7