Thursday, March 28, 2024

It’s about time: Colonial Williamsburg announces new exhibit on 18th and 19th century tall case clocks

Colonial Williamsburg's new exhibit features over 20 tall case clocks from the 18th and 19th centuries. (WYDaily/Courtesy of Joseph Straw)
Colonial Williamsburg’s new exhibit features over 20 tall case clocks from the 18th and 19th centuries. (WYDaily/Courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg)

A new exhibit is opening up at Colonial Williamsburg, and this one is hands-down worth the time.

It’s called “Keeping Time: Tall Case Clocks.”

The exhibition features more than 20 tall case clocks from different regions spanning over a century of timekeeping.

“Colonial Williamsburg is unique in the nation in collecting, studying and exhibiting decorative arts from all parts of early America,” Ronald L. Hurst, the foundation’s Carlisle Humelsine chief curator and vice president for museums, preservation and historic resources, said in a news release.

“This exhibition will feature clocks from New England, the Middle Atlantic and the American South as well as examples from England,” he said.

“Keeping Time: Tall Case Clocks” is organized in “clock movements, dials, Southern tall case clocks, plain vs. fancy design and table clocks,” according to the news release.

“Much like today’s watches and clocks, 18th- and 19th-century tall case clocks, including those highlighted in this exhibition, followed national and regional trends in fashionable style and design,” said Tara Chicirda, Colonial Williamsburg’s curator of furniture.

To adhere to the governor’s executive orders, face coverings are required while inside Foundation-owned buildings. Facemask use is encouraged outdoors as well. The Foundation is also asking guests to follow social distancing guidelines during their visit to Colonial Williamsburg sites, when walking along Duke of Gloucester Street and in other publicly accessible areas.

Most doors, faucets and other high-traffic touchpoints are now touchless, and there are significantly enhanced cleaning protocols throughout the foundation’s open locations.

Keeping Time: Tall Case Clocks is funded by Mark and Iris Coblitz, and will open in the Iris and Mark Coblitz Gallery at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum on Nov. 14.

The exhibition will remain on view until Dec. 31, 2022.

Single-day tickets to the Colonial Williamsburg Art Museums are $14.99 for adults, $8.99 for children ages 6-12, and free for children five and younger.

More information about the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg as well as tickets are available online, by calling 855-296-6627 or by following Colonial Williamsburg on Facebook.

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