The Dance of Time (1788) — Clodion (Claude Michel)

Toast the New Year with Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon as he explores a masterpiece of sculpture and clockmaking: The Dance of Time by Clodion (Claude Michel, 1738–1814) and Jean-Baptiste Lepaute (1727–1802).

In this elegant 18th-century timepiece, three terracotta nymphs—or Hours—dance in a circle around a finely crafted clock mechanism enclosed in a glass globe. The Frick Collection holds one of the most significant clock collections in the United States, many gifted by Winthrop Kellogg Edey. Raise a Metropolitan cocktail and welcome 2021 with art, history, and celebration—Happy New Year!