Precious Time: An Italian Porcelain Clock, 1770

Porcelain Clockcase
Doccia Porcelain Factory, 1770
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Though it features a newer movement of Victorian origin, this clock case was made in Italy by the Doccia Porcelain Factory in 1770. The complicated figural group remains bright white, though some examples have been painted in polychrome. Here, upon a matching pedestal, four dolphins support the case which is surmounted by an allegorical group.
Two female figures flank the clock face, upon which sits a winged man—representing time. The clock face is surrounded by a wreath of olive branches.