Rhapsodies

Today’s sketch is another from the Seattle Art Museum’s Porcelain collection. It is a timepiece representing  Father Time made in 1745 (The idea was that you would rest your pocket watch in the funny bowl thing that the figure is holding) It’s from Germany made in Meissen hard paste by Johann Friedrich Eberlein (1693-1745)

Interesting bit of trivia about why the figure of Father Time was represented with a scythe. For the longest time I assumed that it was a grim reaper reference. Turns out the Titan Cronus  who was represented with the sickle that he used to kill his father Uranus and was marginally an agricultural deity, was mistaken for the god Chronos, the god of time (spelled the same in Greek.) At the same time he was merged with the Roman god Saturn  who represented a past golden age and  also represented time.

They kept the farming implement.