Lot 40
ARCHIBALD KNOX (1899-1933) FOR LIBERTY & CO., LONDON
'CYRMIC' 'OLAF' TABLE CLOCK, 1898
Auction: Design Since 1860 Day One | Wed 14th October | Lots 1 to 245
Description
silver, the enamel dial painted with roman numerals, hallmarked London 1898, stamped maker's marks L&CO, CYMRIC
Dimensions
9.5cm high
Provenance
Art & Design from a Private Collection
Footnote
Literature: Bernbaum, Anthony, ‘Origins of the Liberty Cymric range’, Archibald Knox Society Journal, 2014, Vol III, p. 26
Original design drawing held in Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture (MoDA SD2065)
The Olaf table clock of 1898 was one of Knox’s earliest clock designs and was listed in a 1900 Liberty catalogue. Olaf was a 12th century King of the Isles, an area which included the Isle of Man, making the attribution to Knox near certain. Fascinatingly however, the Olaf clock design lacks the Celtic design features for which Knox is renowned, its solid base and the honest architectural feel of the vertical panels flanking the clock face aligning it more closely with the Arts & Crafts Movement.
