An exhibition in which every object represents a combination of art, craftsmanship, and fine mechanics.
The centrepieces of each of the exhibition rooms are stunning large objects – a tower clockwork from 1737 installed up on the beams or a unique “time machine” constructed in 1929 by a local cooper Jan Linduška.
The “time machine” has eight different dials; the most original of them is a dial showing official time with the minute circle having twice sixty minutes. The other dials show time e.g. in Bombay, Rome, Paris, or Hamburg. The hours and minutes of the local time are displayed at the top of the machine, in the two windows of the stylised hunting lodge with the gamekeeper and his dog walking away. The “time machine” is also equipped with a calendar. However, it is not your standard calendar. This one has 13 months, twelve of them consisting of 28 days, and a thirteenth one, called MARSEMBER, with 29 days. The “time machine” is fully functional, but after winding it only runs for a few hours, as the clockwork is not powerful enough to keep it going. There is a screen showing the operation of the machine from a record.
Some of the smaller exhibits in the glass cabinets include e.g. the sophisticatedly carved and lavishly gold-plated clock made by Johan Lakavetzky from Brno in the 18th century, or wooden clock with a spindle base and lead weights made around 1750. There is also a 19th century painted clock with a profiled frame or an electromagnetic desk clock from the 1930s. Some other rarities include a scaphe-type sundial, which is built within a bowl-shaped marble base.
Directly in the exhibition room you can try to pull the weight and wind a clock, swing a clock pendulum, or study a realistic model demonstrating how sundials work.
Location of the exhibition:
• main building, courtyard
Explanatory and accompanying texts:
• Czech
Opened:
• May 2019
Author:
• Dušan Kočner
Gallery
