klok

Jan Eisenloeffel designed plain household objects at the start of his career, intended for everyday usage. In around 1910, however, the artist made a 180-degree turn. Disappointed by the possibilities for manufacturing reliable and affordable goods for large sectors of the public, he started making luxury products. They were richly decorated and very expensive. This table clock is a shining example of this new direction and was made for the ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes’ in Paris in 1925, where this showpiece won a gold medal. Eisenloeffel drew his inspiration from all kinds of sources. The stepped diamond shape, for example, was based on the architecture of the Aztecs and Mesopotamians. The irregular meandering lines on the clockface are Chinese in appearance, as is the golden openwork lattice around the outside. However, the different influences cannot be defined with any precision. The other Dutch entries to Expo 1925, most of which came from designers from the Amsterdam School, display this same eclectic preference for the exotic.