Ghost Clock

Wendell Castle, Ghost Clock, 1985, bleached Honduras mahogany, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1989.68, © 1985, Wendell Castle
Wendell Castle, Ghost Clock, 1985, bleached Honduras mahogany, 86 1424 1215 in. (219.062.238.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1989.68, © 1985, Wendell Castle

Artwork Details

Title
Ghost Clock
Date
1985
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
86 1424 1215 in. (219.062.238.1 cm)
Copyright
© 1985, Wendell Castle
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums
Mediums Description
bleached Honduras mahogany
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — other — linens
  • Object — furniture — clock
  • Fantasy — ghost
Object Number
1989.68

Artwork Description

At first glance Ghost Clock appears to be a grandfather clock hidden under a white sheet. However, a closer look reveals a masterful deception: this entire sculpture was hand-carved from a single block of laminated mahogany. With its meticulous detail, Castle re-created in wood the contours of soft, supple cloth, then completed the illusion by bleaching the "drapery" white and staining the base of the "clock" a walnut brown. This work is the last in a series of thirteen clocks the artist created in the 1980s; unlike the others, it lacks an inner mechanism. Its haunting stillness and silence suggest eternity--the absence of time.

Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019

Works by this artist (1 item)

Steven Young Lee, Vase with Landscape and Dinosaurs, 2014, porcelain with pigment and glaze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Richard Fryklund, Giselle and Ben Huberman, David and Clemmer Montague, and museum purchase through the Howard Kottler Endowment for Ceramic Art
, 2015.17, © 2014, Steven Young Lee
Vase with Landscape and Dinosaurs
Date2014
porcelain with pigment and glaze
On view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.11 - SAAM-2016.11_6 - 124929
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
November 13, 2015March 6, 2022
Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world.

More Artworks from the Collection

Peking
Date1993
polychromed mahogany and gold leaf
Not on view
Thomas Loeser, Four by Four, 1994, carved, painted, varnished, and waxed mahogany with acrylic and milk paint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Robert and Gayle Greenhill, Eleanor T. and Samuel J. Rosenfeld, anonymous contributors and museum purchase, 1995.92, © 1994, Tom Loeser
Four by Four
Date1994
carved, painted, varnished, and waxed mahogany with acrylic and milk paint
On view
Charles Radtke, Sarcophagus Cabinet #1, 1999, mahogany, sassafras, and brass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John and Robyn Horn, 2000.14
Sarcophagus Cabinet #1
Date1999
mahogany, sassafras, and brass
Not on view
Randy Shull, Ten, 1996, mahogany and acrylic paint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Diane and Marc Grainer, 2001.42
Ten
Date1996
mahogany and acrylic paint
Not on view