Klok en planken 1705 - 1775

This print, made by an anonymous artist, depicts clock and shelf designs. It reveals the elaborate taste for interior decoration that spread across Europe in the eighteenth century. Made in the style of the Rococo, this print would have been distributed in cities such as Augsburg to help carpenters and woodcarvers realize the aesthetic ambitions of their clients. Rococo emphasized the values of lightness and playful elegance. As you can see, the proposed design would have integrated clocks into the interior design of a room as a way of showcasing technological advancement. At the time, time-keeping devices were highly valued as symbols of innovation and social progress. Art historians can learn about the social history of art by studying prints such as these to reconstruct how tastes were formed by design and luxury goods industries.