“The cuckoo then, on every tree, mocks married men, for thus sings he: “Cuckoo! Cuckoo, cuckoo!” O word of fear, unpleasing to a married ear...”
So opens one of Shakespeare’s lesser known poems, Spring.
The cuckoo, however, has become well-known thanks to the fact that it has lent its name to everything from games, music albums and even to a Bollywood dancer – but it is probably best known for giving its name to the cuckoo clock.
The cuckoo clock first appeared in the Black Forest region of Germany and not, contrary to popular belief, in Switzerland.
The most familiar cuckoo clock design, known as ‘Chalet’ style, consists of a wooden case that is highly decorated with leaves and animals that are carved in to the wood. It is the ‘Chalet’ style that originated in Switzerland at the end of the 19th century.
This style takes its name from the shape of the wooden case, which varies according to the different traditional houses depicted: Black Forest chalet, Swiss chalet and the Bavarian chalet.
Using pendulums, the typical cuckoo clock strikes the hour by the sound of a wire gong and the call of the common cookoo, imitated through the use of small pipes and bellows. The same mechanism to produce the cuckoo call has been used ever since this type of clock first appeared in the mid 18th century, despite the amount of time that has passed since the first cuckoo clocks were produced.
Apart from the cuckoo sound the clock makes when it is striking, it is best known for the automaton of a bird that appears whenever the clock strikes, by means of an arm that lifts the back of the carving.
As well as the automated bird, other animated figurines such as woodcutters or turning water wheels are commonly found on the Chalet style cuckoo clock.
Recent years have seen a rise in the manufacture of contemporary cuckoo clocks, which are generally in-keeping with the minimalist aesthetic.
In 2006, Rombach und Haas became the first Black Forest clock manufacturer to branch out in to a new generation of cuckoo clocks with the release of a model created by Tobias Reischle. Only two years later, Rombach und Hass started its own line of contemporary cuckoo clocks with designs ranging from minimalist, industrial, and naturalist as well as intricate fretwork and hand-painted pieces.
In 2009, a collaborative project between Isetan department store and the More Trees association saw the cuckoo clock take the DesignTide exhibition in Tokyo by storm, with a collection of 50 personal interpretations of the cuckoo clock by 50 Japanese artists and designers based on one original design by Naoto Fukasawa.
Prices can range anywhere from around €250 to over €1,000, depending on how detailed the clock is and whether it is certified as original by the Black Forest Clock Association of Germany.
Some retailers do provide cheaper versions, however the quality and durability of the originals is far superior.