Installed in the Kitchen is a console clock produced in the late 17th or early 18th century in Frisia, the north-eastern part of the Netherlands. The two open-work panels were cast in pewter and painted for further decoration. The face of the clock has minutes marked in Arabic numerals, but only a single hour hand in keeping with the mechanism.
Frisian clocks, popular in the 18th century, were a form of folk art. The decorative elements were created by members of sailors’ or peasants’ families in their spare time. One family would specialize in working with wood, another in cutting brass, a third in casting lead. This was the first instance of division of labour in Europe.
It is interesting that two identical Frisian clocks are hardly ever found. Each time skilled hands in this cottage industry would assemble different decorative elements to produce a unique combination.