Minneapolis Institute of Art
Clock
Silversmith: Charles Green and Son
- Date
- 1905
- Medium
- Silver, glass
- Department
- European Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
This is one of the earliest digital clocks, pre-electrification. Though an Austrian engineer developed a digital time display for watches in the late 19th century, today most of us prefer digital displays for alarm clocks and smartphones, not for watches. This clock is a version of the digital Plato clock, patented by Eugene L. Fitch in New York in 1903. Shown in St. Louis at the 1904 World’s Fair, the Plato clock took the clock world by storm, and manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe produced it. Known by its celluloid (early plastic) leaves hand painted with the hour at the top and the minutes at the bottom, this especially lovely sterling silver Plato clock still has its celluloid page retainer. England
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