herenhorloge c. 1770

Curator: This object, titled "herenhorloge," which translates to "men's watch," was created around 1770 by the watchmaker Samson. It is made of painting and metal. Editor: A landscape miniature on a pocket watch! The scale of it is striking. The colors feel delicate, almost faded, with that rococo lightness. There’s a real intimacy to it. Curator: Indeed. The formal elements support that intimate reading. Note the way the circular case and the painted scene within echo one another, reinforcing the contained world it presents. The numerals also have an interplay with the architectural lines on the scene inside the dial. The symmetry also contributes to the harmony. Editor: That makes me think about time and memory, of course. Water always signifies fluidity, change. I see the depiction of that scene as perhaps invoking nostalgia, of keeping a sentimental token close, and checking back to the exact same miniature picture to look at every time again and again. It seems very personal. Curator: Precisely. The subject matter itself – a scene, probably a canal, rendered in the Rococo style – lends itself to readings of both personal and historical narrative. The rendering flattens and abstracts in fascinating ways. Editor: What's particularly resonant is how the miniaturization affects the imagery. These buildings shrink and thus the grand cityscape feels familiar. They become not grand, imposing symbols of state, but more like parts of someone's mental image and everyday memories. The miniature world as portable memory. Curator: A brilliant observation. It is the flattening effect from being on a miniature scale like this which allows the piece to function successfully and generate feeling. Editor: I find this watch unlocks so many connections between our own lives and the lives of those in the past. I'm seeing both in new perspectives now. Curator: The semiotic play between the case, dial and miniature painting continues to inspire me. There's a lot of sophistication at play here.