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Rococo Doco

I suppose all Human behavior and endeavour can be measured along some sort of psychic, if not cosmic, continuum. In religion we see it in the faith of the Puritans, in which black and white is colour enough. Conversely, at the other end of this continuum, using the colour analogy, Vatican purple and Cardinal red are heavenly aspirations. Art, architecture and fashion also travel this well-beaten road. From simple, stylish neo-classic Georgian architecture through to our topic now, namely the "Rococo" period of art and design, we enter a World of light-hearted and self-indulgent excess.

The word "Rococo" comes from the French "rocaille", used to describe the rock and shell follies and grottoes fashionable in the eighteenth century.

The rich of this period rather lost the plot, becoming infatuated with the excesses of houses, furniture, paintings and clocks that incorporated shells, rocks, dripping water and Chinese pagodas. The extremes of wealth of this period encouraged a sort of warped romantisism, giving us things like the Hall of Mirrors in the Versaille Palace. No wonder the then French King, Louis XIV was heard to say "après moi, le deluge".

Rococo is quite alien to modern taste, yet it does have a fascination, and in its less excessive state, such as the furniture of Thomas Chippendale, it has appeal. The intricate designs of Rococo seemed to be better expressed in smaller objects like mirrors, porcelain figures and furniture, including clocks.

Clapham’s Clock Museum currently has a display from around this period, including a gilded royal blue clock hand-painted by L. Reid, an English artist who specialized in painting Highland cattle. Rococo clocks and watches really went to town in their ornate structures, using gold, silver, mother-of-pearl and semi-precious stones. Further to this, a French cabinet-maker, born in 1642 and with the name of Andre-Charles Boulle, is generally considered to be the pre-eminent artist in the field of marquetry, and gave his name to this style.

Marquetry, as refined by Boulle, consisted of inlaying brass, red lacquer, and tortoise-shell. There are two examples of his craft at the Clock Museum. The smaller of the two is an original, and the larger is a fine German replica made in 1940 (you would think with a war on the Germans might have had other things on their mind). Boulle was so talented that the Sun King (Louis XIV) established the Boulle School of Marquetry in Paris. The Clapham’s Clock example features the King’s emblem of the sun on the pendulum.

Finally, our National Museum of all that is clockish is holding a KIDSDAY on Queens Birthday Weekend, on June 6th. The Museum is launching the Tick-Tock Club for younger children and the young at heart, including clock-face painting, colouring-in competitions, movies and much more. So why not put a spring in your step and go along, the kids will love it.