Voysey's celebrated stunning painted clock case was designed for himself. The original design is shown on the left above.
The photograph of our reproduction, top RH, follows Voysey's design; however Voysey omitted the designs on top of the legs when he painted the actual clock ( possibly because it was too 'busy'). There are two known versions of this painted clock case. The one in the V&A Museum in London is bottom LH. This has a face which differs from Voysey's design, in that it is an applied embossed thick paper painted brown with black numerals.
The 2nd clock, bottom RH, is now in Richmond museum, VA.USA. There are discrepancies between this clock and Voysey's design & first clock, which have caused some to wonder if Voysey actually painted it himself, or someone close to him who had the design.
The face is different again, being gilt with the letters Tempus Fugit painted on. The case is painted as the original case, minus the designs on the top of the legs. The painted birds in flight at the top of the front look too smooth and almost airbrushed for Voysey.
The photo on the left shows one of our clocks in a Voysey house, shown on an oak dresser, to give it some scale & a proper setting. The quirky photo, top RH, shows a close up. Bottom LH photo shows the clock on one of our voysey tables with his chairs either side. Makes for a great group shot. Bottom RH shows the clock face with copies of the original Heart hands.
With characteristic economy of design, the case follows his designs for the stable towers for the Greyfriars & Colwall houses ( shown above ). The designs on the front echo his wallpaper designs.
Copies of the original 'heart' hands (shown below) are available at extra cost. This is an incredibly labour, time and skill intensive piece to make. The whole piece is painted in oil paints. The top is gilded with 24ct gold leaf. There are various options we can offer when supplying these clocks (ie full mechanical movement) speak to us first. Price on application. Unless in stock, delivery time approx 14 - 18 weeks.
An Oak version of this clock was also made originally, under license by Liberty, with gold letters spelling out 'Tempus Fugit'. Shown above. We can make this to order - Price on application.. A bizarre version of this clock was also made at the time in aluminium, with copper hands. This must have been made as part of the general Arts & Crafts move to try out new materials on different work.
Voysey also designed a similar barometer case to go with the clock, top LH, which was very similar in style. As far as we are aware only one was ever made. This case design influenced CR Ashbee for his own clock case design, shown here top RH. More details in main Arts & Crafts section.
Aesthetic Movement ClockNo designer lives in a vacuum, but is influenced by everything he sees. This clock is a case in point. We produced a copy of this Aesthetic Movement clock for a client, the original of which would have likely been made in the 1870's. It was immediately apparent that it must have been an influence on Voysey's own painted clock.
It is the central panel that is very similar to Voysey's. Both had 3 trees growing up equally spaced, with 2 boats sailing in between. Both have foreshore, with plants growing on it and land in the distance. Both have a near identical banner with a motto on it. Voysey must have seen this clock design, adapted it and combined it with his design for a stable tower, to produce his own highly distinctive clock case.