The 4th Marquess of Hertford had a passion for clocks, collecting them in both Paris and London. Most were kept in his apartment in the rue Laffitte, but several, acquired in England, were part of the furnishings of Hertford House, notably the monumental astronomical clock. Despite the elaborate movement of the latter, Lord Hertford, like the French eighteenth-century noblemen whose tastes he so often shared, bought his clocks for the artistry of their cases, whether in Boulle marquetry, gilt and patinated bronze, gilt bronze and marble, Sevres porcelain, lapis lazuli, tulipwood or ebony. His taste in clocks was supremely that of a collector for whom time itself did not matter. All the eighteenth-century clocks and barometers formerly owned by the Marquess and now in the Wallace Collection are featured in this book. For each clock a description of the case and movement is provided, along with details of the work of the clockmakers, cabinetmakers, bronze founders and gilders. There are full-page colour illustrations of each clock, accompanied by details in black and white of the movements and photographs of comparable clocks. Essays on clock cases and on clock movements and barometers put the Marquess's collection in its historical context, while a glossary and diagrams provide technical details. Of great interest to historians of the decorative arts and to horologists, the book will also appeal to anyone with a love of French art of the eighteenth century.

Among the finest examples of European craftsmanship are the clocks produced for the luxury trade in the eighteenth century. The J. Paul Getty Museum is fortunate to have in its decorative arts collection twenty clocks dating from around 1680 to 1798: eighteen produced in France and two in Germany. They demonstrate the extraordinary workmanship that went into both the design and execution of the cases and the intricate movements by which the clocks operated. In this handsome volume, each clock is pictured and discussed in detail, and each movement diagrammed and described. In addition, biographies of the clockmakers and enamelers are included, as are indexes of the names of the makers, previous owners, and locations.

Anna Thomson Dodge, heiress to the automotive fortune, built a great home and decorated it with one of the finest groups of 18th-century French decorative arts in America. Here are more than 130 pieces of furniture, sculpture, metalwork, tapestries, Sevres porcelain, and paintings, many from royal collections.

Catalogue of the Wallace Collection of eighteenth-century French furniture. Covers the materials, construction and decoration of each piece, with an account of its history and a commentary on its dating, style and maker.

Published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Apr. 26-Aug. 7, 2011, and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Sept. 18-Dec. 10, 2011.

A General History of Horology describes instruments used for the finding and measurement of time from Antiquity to the 21st century. In geographical scope it ranges from East Asia to the Americas. The instruments described are set in their technical and social contexts, and there is also discussion of the literature, the historiography and the collecting of the subject. The book features the use of case studies to represent larger topics that cannot be completely covered in a single book. The international body of authors have endeavoured to offer a fully world-wide survey accessible to students, historians, collectors, and the general reader, based on a firm understanding of the technical basis of the subject. At the same time as the work offers a synthesis of current knowledge of the subject, it also incorporates the results of some fundamamental, new and original research.

This book celebrates the work and career of the internationally renowned art historian, David Bindman, on the occasion of his 75th birthday, and is above all a tribute to him from his former students and colleagues.

Among the world's greatest technological and imaginative achievements is the invention and development of the timepiece. Examining for the first time The Metropolitan Museum of Art's unparalleled collection of European clocks and watches created from the late Renaissance through the nineteenth century, this fascinating book enriches our understanding of the origins and evolution of these ingenious works. It showcases fifty-four clocks, watches, and other timekeeping devices, each represented with an in-depth description and new photography of the exterior and the inner mechanisms. Among these masterpieces is an ornate sixteenth-century celestial timepiece that accurately predicts the trajectory of the sun, moon, and stars; an eighteenth-century longcase clock by David Roentgen that shows the time in the ten most important cities of the day; and a nineteenth-century watch featuring a penetrating portrait of Czar Nicholas I of Russia. Created by the best craftsmen in Austria, England, Flanders, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, these magnificent timepieces have been selected for their remarkable beauty and design, as well as their sophisticated mechanics. Built upon decades of expert research, this publication is a long-overdue survey of these stunning visual and technological marvels.

Pink castles, talking sofas, and objects coming to life: what may sound like the fantasies of Hollywood dream-maker Walt Disney were in fact the figments of the colorful salons of Rococo Paris. Exploring the novel use of French motifs in Disney films and theme parks, this publication features forty works of eighteenth-century European design—from tapestries and furniture to Boulle clocks and Sèvres porcelain—alongside 150 Disney film stills, drawings, and other works on paper. The text connects these art forms through a shared dedication to craftsmanship and highlights references to European art in Disney films, including nods to Gothic Revival architecture in Cinderella (1950);bejeweled, medieval manuscripts in Sleeping Beauty (1959); and Rococo-inspired furnishings and objects brought to life in Beauty and the Beast (1991). Bridging fact and fantasy, this book draws remarkable new parallels between Disney’s magical creations and their artistic inspirations.

"This bibliography supplements the greatest of modern art bibliographies, Etta Arntzen and Robert Rainwater's Guide to the literature of art history (ALA, 1980)"--Preface.