Watch 1650 - 1675

Editor: Here we have a Baroque-style watch, crafted between 1650 and 1675, currently residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's attributed to Jaques Collomb and is made of silver and other metals, which give it a reflective quality. Something about the floral motif on the face feels almost… melancholic to me. What story does this piece tell you? Curator: It's a whispered story, wouldn't you agree? For me, it conjures images of a dimly lit room, perhaps a noble with a penchant for contemplation, each tick marking fleeting moments of life. Don't you find that Baroque objects often carry that weight of existence, that awareness of temporality? I suspect it's far more than decorative; it's a pocket sundial, a personal reminder. Editor: I hadn’t thought about that sense of personal memento, but that makes perfect sense. Curator: Yes! Imagine the owner carefully winding it, holding time itself in their hands. That floral design you noticed? It could represent more than just ornamentation—a specific garden, a loved one’s favorite bloom, or the bloom representing the fleeting beauty of youth. That particular arrangement may offer us other symbolic meanings, did it remind you of something when you first saw it? Editor: Hmmm… almost like a fading rose, perhaps? Curator: Precisely! I wonder if Collomb was subtly reminding his patron that all beauty fades. It’s this tension – beauty married to mortality – that fuels much of Baroque art, don't you think? Editor: I do now. The watch becomes more profound; it isn’t just timekeeping but also a statement of the era. Thanks so much! Curator: My pleasure! Now you've opened *my* eyes to viewing decorative art through an elegiac lens as well. Always learning.