This is one of the most amazing and intricate clocks we have ever seen, and it is on a DEPARTMENT STORE!
The famous "Queen of Time" clock is an astonishingly beautiful work of art, made by sculptor Gilbert Bayes of gilt, enamel, and bronze.
The clock itself has two faces, but looks like it is two single-faced clocks in a triangular structure. The faces are round, and the face is not flat but instead is a lens shape that looks like opaque Bakelite. The clock has intricate hands that point to roman numerals. The hands and numerals are coated in blue enamel. Atop the clock, an elaborate sailing ship, sails full of wind, suggests that goods from around the world can be found at this store. In front of the clock, seemingly attached to it, an ethereal figure if a woman holds an orb in one hand and a laurel branch in the other.
From the Ornamental Passions blog: (
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The clock over the main entrance of Selfridge's was one of the last parts to be completed, for the eastern end was built first in 1909, the western end in 1920, the middle in 1926 and the clock installed in 1931.
Known as the Queen of Time, it is by Gilbert Bayes, who mined a lifetime's development of polychromatic techniques to create this gold and blue bronze, a stunning and rich effect. It is a superb composition, noble, confident and lovely.
The Queen looks superficially like Athena, holding little figure of Nike (Victory) in her right hand and a sprig of laurel (also a symbol of victory) in her left. But unlike Athena she wears no armour, and Nike stands on an orb, a regal attribute. She is also winged (time flies, geddit?) and stands on the prow of a ship. Her supporters are mermaids holding phases of the moon controlling the tides, and of course the Queen of Time and Tides waits for no man.
The model was Leopoldine Avico, one of the three Avico sisters who were something of an institution at the Slade between the wars.
The clock behind supports an Elizabethan ship, recalling the early days of the exploration that would lead to the industrial revolution, trade and commerce, globalisation and the rise of shopping as the principal hobby of most of the western world except, of course, for eating, drinking and sex.
Bob Speel has more to say on his blog: (
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"The Queen of Time, Selfridges, by Gilbert Bayes
The centre of gravity of Oxford Street, towards the western end, is Selfridges, and it bears a familiar and iconic sculptural group by the sculptor Gilbert Bayes, with at its centrepiece the Queen of Time. She stands, greatly larger than lifesize, an example of polychrome sculpture, her face and exposed arms and feet in a polished brassy colour, her hair and outer robes and spread wings in dark bronze, her dress and the hem of her robe in lustrous blue enamel. She is posed erect, staring straight forward, and slightly upwards into the visionary distance, her left hand raised and holding a sprig of foliage, her right holding a globe bearing a small angel, herself carrying a leafy branch and a wreath. Her enamelled dress falls symmetrically about her body, with more of a variation in the folds of her outer robe. She stands on the stone prow of ship, with waves indicated to either side, and behind and above her are the twin dials of the Selfridges Clock, for she is, after all, the Queen of Time. Upon the summit of the twin clocks is a small ship, a galleon of some sort with three masts and a single raised sail.
To left and right, above the waves, but reaching only to the mid-calf of the central figure, are a pair of mermaids, fantastical art nouveau creations in bronze with fins and scales enamelled in blue and green, and mosaic scales in red and brown further down each curled tail. They are of the variety of mermaid that has something of a skirt of little fins at the waist – see the mermaids page. More enamel and mosaic on the hairpieces of each figure, and each holds up a circlet in brass, thicker on the outside almost as if a crescent moon.
To the casual glance, it is easy to miss the other two figures in the composition – two winged youths, male and female, again flanking the central figure but to the rear and further in, slightly flattened. They are on considerably smaller scale, reaching only to knee height measured against the Queen. Each carries a small mallet and is seemingly concerned with the mechanism of the clocks. Behind and above this composition, against the wall two seminude girls act as a keystone to the whole ensemble of the portico, seated flanking some central tablet, their hands perhaps clasped together behind a heap of foliage and flowers, their faces turned away from each other. . . ."
Finally, a bit on the Selfridge's store from the Looking at London blog: (
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"elfridge – The Man and The Store (21)
Oxford Street is one of the busiest shopping areas of London. There are several large department stores, and the best is Selfridges. Wikipedia says it was voted the best department store in the world in 2010 and 2012.
Many people who enjoy shopping there don’t know the story of the creation of the store.
The store was opened in 1909. It was designed by the American architect Daniel Burnham, who also designed Marshall Field’s, Chicago, Filene’s in Boston, Wanamaker’s in Philadelphia, and Gimbels and Wanamaker’s in New York. The grand classical façade hides a structural secret – Selfridges was one of the first buildings in England built around a steel frame.
. . .
Harry Selfridge wanted to create a store that was the third most visited place in London, after the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace. He built the first grand modern department store in England.
Above the main entrance to the store is an amazing sculpture group created by Gilbert Bayes. The store was built in three sections, and this large sculpture wasn’t installed until 1931."