Design for a Clock with a Classical Female Figure 1795 - 1805

This is an anonymous design for a clock with a classical female figure, drawn in ink on paper. Observe the figure on the left. She is rendered in the guise of a classical goddess, perhaps Minerva, identifiable by her helmet, and is posed beside an urn atop a pedestal. The urn, an ancient symbol of holding mortal remains, takes on a new life here. It resurfaces as a vessel for the measurement of time, as it becomes conjoined with the clock's design. The artist has tapped into our collective consciousness, where the classical and the contemporary blur. Notice how the gestures of these figures—reaching, supporting—evoke a sense of melancholy and the inevitability of time’s passage. These emotional states resonate across centuries, carried through the powerful language of form. The clock, crowned with cherubic figures, becomes more than a mere instrument; it is a memento mori, reminding us of the fleeting nature of life.