Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti (FPM) and Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum have set up an enthralling exhibition on watches. The two entities are well-known for the historic and well-researched exhibitions they set up.
This is the fifth exhibition that highlights a particular, collectible objet d’art that had caught the attention of artist and philanthropist Olof Gollcher: watches. Originally created in South Germany in the early 16th century, watches have evolved throughout the centuries to the now ubiquitous wrist-watch.
This exhibition is that much more special because it has benefitted from the added and insightful input of a guest curator, David Thompson, an expert on watches who served as senior curator of horology at the British Museum in London, until his retirement, among his many other accomplishments. Thompson had, in fact, delivered a public lecture on the history of the watch when he was in Malta in 2009.
As is customary for FPM and Palazzo Falson, the selected objet d’art was researched in depth and the exhibition was made richer thanks to artefacts on loan that are on loan from local private and public collections.
The 50 or so watches displayed are antique artefacts made out of several materials and elaborated in gold, enamel, pearls and more. Watch-related materials and tools necessary for their manufacture further enhance the exhibition’s interest. In fact, some watches have been left open for us to see their mesmerising interiors, allowing a rare insight into the minute mechanical technology involved.
The exhibition also highlights the fact that, although they are a useful accessory, watches are also intriguing works of art in miniature produced in workshops and by various craftsmen specialised in different techniques.
Among the 18 watches in Palazzo Falson’s collection are rare pieces such as what is probably the earliest watch found on Malta: that made by Isaac Haas of Haarlem dating to circa 1690.
Another Palazzo Falson gem that is prominently displayed upon entrance is the rare decimal dial watch by Robert Robin (1742-1799) that was produced to measure French Revolutionary time (in use from 1793 to 1806).
Although they are a useful accessory, watches are also intriguing works of art in miniature
Robin is considered to have been Kind Louis XVI’s favourite clockmaker. An animated video on Robert Robin by Bruce Micallef Eynaud, in fact, highlights this watch’s importance and history in a rational, yet refreshing, way.
Watches were considered luxury items that come in several shapes and adornments and a watch’s exterior decoration depended on whether they were meant to be seen or to be used purely to tell the time. Both genres are portrayed in the exhibition.
One of the more particular ones is the sophisticated Swiss gold and enamel-cased watch that has the shape of a flower bud (circa 1860). Another genre explored in the display is the desk watch.
Time pieces were used also as an obvious status symbol. One of the sections in this exhibition highlights four watches that have been displayed together with photographs of their original owners. One of these, Swiss gold cased lever watch circa 1915-1920, belonged to Edward Caruana Dingli. Another is an 1895 Patek Philippe, gold half-hunter cased lever watch belonging to Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, Duke of the Abruzzi.
Indeed, the exhibition incorporates more than just a series of watches – books on watches belonging to the Palazzo Falson collection also feature. The exhibits also includes an early 19th-century gentleman’s waistcoat, borrowed from Casa Rocca Piccola Trust’s rich collection that clearly illustrates how watches would be worn. The way in which watches were worn and used is further explored through the portrait paintings on display.
Through recent research, it has also been established that some watches that bear a Maltese retailer’s name were also actually produced in Switzerland. That watches were produced in Malta, however, is made manifest through newspaper cutouts that highlight the type of watch that could be produced on the island in the late 19th century.
The thematic display of these watches has been complemented by an elegant set-up and adequate lighting, as we have come to expect of Palazzo Falson and FPM. For example, the Robin watch is displayed in a framed recess behind which is a magnified image of the watch’s interior that demonstrates an inscription.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with a full list of exhibits and an essay on the history of the watch by David Thompson. Moreover, the exhibition is further complemented by another video animation by the British Museum. Titled ‘How does a Mechanical Watch work?’, it enables one to follow a watch’s manufacturing and working process.
While time is elusive, the curators of this exhibition have managed to prove that the objects with which we keep track of time are not and that unlike time, these small but marvellous creations are very accessible and capable of offering boundless wonderment to many.
Watches: from Timekeepers to Trendsetters is open at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, Mdina, until January 10.