Clock - 26.5x12.5x12.5 In. 

This dramatic clock is cast in the form of a suspended bell, richly ornamented in gilt-bronze with pierced foliate scrolls, masks, and small devotional figures. A dial with Roman numerals encircling a radiating sun motif is set into the bell. The bands are inscribed with the liturgical phrases DOMINUS VOBISCUM (“The Lord be with you”), PATER NOSTER (“Our Father”), and ANNO DOMINI (“In the year of our Lord”), formulae traditionally found on church bells. Together, these inscriptions reinforce the clock’s identity as a miniature echo of a medieval cathedral bell.

The bell hangs between four Gothic-style columns on circular bases and rises to pointed arches with tracery, surmounted by a small turret and finial recalling the outline of a church tower. The entire clock is enclosed in a pitched-top glazed wooden case and raised on a fitted stand, turning it into a domestic showpiece as much as a timekeeper.

The Gothic Revival taste, popular in the 19th century, revived the pointed arches, spires, and inscriptions of medieval cathedrals and reimagined them for decorative objects in the Victorian home. Clocks in bell or cathedral form were part of this movement, blending the precision of horology with the drama of architecture. Continental firms, particularly in France, became known for such flamboyant designs, often shown at international exhibitions and exported widely.

Imported examples of this type also reached Bombay through European trading houses, where they appealed to mercantile families eager to align themselves with European taste. Preserved in the Mangaldas estate, this clock embodies both the revival style of Victorian Europe and its resonance in colonial India, serving as both a household timekeeper and a theatrical showpiece.

The movement bears the Japy Frères stamp, which records the firm’s Médaille d’Honneur at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867.

As Is, Non-exportable

Provenance: The Estate of Mangaldas Nathubhai