Works of Art – the Black Forest Cuckoo Clock
Most cuckoo clocks today are made in the “traditional style” to hang on a wall in your home or office. In the long history of clock making and time keeping, cuckoo clocks play a large role in the appreciation of art in clocks. The traditional style of the cuckoo clock is a wooden case decorated with carved leaves and animals and an automation of a bird that appears through a small door while the clock is striking. A cuckoo clock is typically pendulum driven, striking the hour and half hour, using bellows and pipes that imitate the cuckoo call. Today’s cuckoo clocks are almost always driven by weights. The weights are made of cast iron in a pine cone shape.
As early as 1650, the call of the cuckoo bird in a clock was being heard in parts of East Germany and a region of the Czech Republic. It took nearly a century for the cuckoo clock to find its way to the Black Forest. The Black Forest cuckoo clock, as we know it, comes from the region in southwest Germany, where a tradition of clock making started late in the 17th century. The cuckoo clock is a favorite souvenir of travelers in Germany, where there are several different firms making the whole clock or parts of it. The people who make cuckoo clocks are dedicated craftsmen whose products are works of art. Black Forest cuckoo clocks and German cuckoo clocks command big prices and are highly sought after in antique stores, flea markets and retail shops. They are valuable because of their elaborate hand carvings and unique artistry.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at “Striking the Hour”