The first detailed discussion of the greatest timepieces from the exceptional collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Among the world's great technological and imaginative achievements is the invention and development of the timepiece. Examining for the first time the Metropolitan Museum's unparalleled collection of European clocks and watches created from the early middle ages through the 19th century, this fascinating book enriches our understanding of the origins and evolution of these ingenious works. It showcases 54 extraordinary clocks, watches, and other timekeeping devices, each represented with an in-depth description and new photography showing the exterior as well as the inner mechanisms. Included are an ornate celestial timepiece that accurately predicts the trajectory of the sun, moon, and stars and a longcase clock by David Roentgen that shows the time in the ten most important cities of the day. These works, created by clockmakers, scientists, and artists in England, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, have been selected for their artistic beauty and design excellence, as well as for their sophisticated and awe-inspiring mechanics. Built upon decades of expert research, this publication is a long-overdue survey of these stunning visual and technological marvels. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (10/26/15-05/22/16)

This volume catalogs more than four hundred decorative objects in the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including painted enamels, snuffboxes, porcelain, pottery, ceramics, jewelry, furniture, cast metal, and textiles from throughout Europe and Asia, with the majority dating from the late seventh century to the twentieth century. Highlights include a a superb seventeenth-century oval-shaped watch decorated with enamels by the master Susanne de Court of Limoges; a dazzling domed cup supported by a carved alabaster figure of a bearded Turk, replete with jewels and precious stones, crafted in early eighteenth-century Germany; and a French secretaire from the 1780s set with painted enamels from the famed Sevres Manufactory. Provenance information, exhibition histories, and references are provided, and selected comparative illustrations are incorporated. The volume also includes a bibliography and an index."