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Ghost Clock

American Art Museum

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    Object Details

    Artist

    Wendell Castle, born Emporia, KS 1932-died Scottsville, NY 2018

    Exhibition Label

    At first glance Ghost Clock appears to be a grandfather clock hidden under a white sheet. However, a closer look reveals a masterful deception: this entire sculpture was hand-carved from a single block of laminated mahogany. With its meticulous detail, Castle re-created in wood the contours of soft, supple cloth, then completed the illusion by bleaching the "drapery" white and staining the base of the "clock" a walnut brown. This work is the last in a series of thirteen clocks the artist created in the 1980s; unlike the others, it lacks an inner mechanism. Its haunting stillness and silence suggest eternity--the absence of time.
    Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019

    Credit Line

    Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program

    Copyright

    © 1985, Wendell Castle

    Date

    1985

    Object number

    1989.68

    Restrictions & Rights

    Usage conditions apply

    Type

    Decorative Arts-Furniture
    Crafts

    Medium

    bleached Honduras mahogany

    Dimensions

    86 1/4 x 24 1/2 x 15 in. (219.0 x 62.2 x 38.1 cm)

    See more items in

    Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

    Department

    Renwick Gallery

    Data Source

    Smithsonian American Art Museum

    Topic

    Fantasy\ghost
    Object\furniture\clock
    Object\other\linens

    Metadata Usage

    Not determined

    Link to Original Record

    http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk70b23f192-339e-46ec-a6b7-0e97b8fe9a8a

    Record ID

    saam_1989.68

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