PETER WYLIE DAVIDSON (1870-1963)
'SWALLOWS' LONGCASE CLOCK, CIRCA 1902
£15,000
Auction: 15 June 2011 at 12:00 BST
Description
with circular brass dial, the repoussé decoration composed of stylised Roman numerals enclosed by a frieze of stylised swallows, the hands decorated with concave discs, above a pendulum, worked in brass wire and repoussé panel and depicting a swallow flying through clouds, the whole supported on an ebonised stand pierced with circular apertures enclosing turquoise bead spacers
Dimensions
119.5cm high, dial, 38.5cm diameter, 43cm square at base
Footnote
Provenance: Peter Wylie Davidson and by descent
Note: This clock is one of Peter Wylie Davidson's masterworks and possibly a collaboration with Charles Rennie Mackintosh; by family repute the frame was designed by Mackintosh and the clock's dial by Davidson. The use of the swallow's flight motif around the clock face is a distinctive Davidson element seen on his best pieces, as well as a classic 'Glasgow Style' motif. The pendulum depicting a swallow's flight through wirework clouds is of the same design as a well known set of brooches created by Davidson for the women in his family, of which five are thought to have been made. One example is dated 1902 and this may help us attribute this clock to a similar date. The motif can also be seen in the only jewellery design attributed to Mackintosh, but it is difficult to say with certainty who influenced who in this case. It perhaps hints at a synthesis of ideas and further strengthens the possibility of this being a collaborative project.