Wood Clocks
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Material: Wood
Creator: George Nelson
Vintage George Nelson / Howard Miller Multi-color Spike / Starburst Clock
Located in Buffalo, NY
Iconic Vintage George Nelson / Howard Miller Multi-color Spike / Starburst Electric Wall Clock,, Amazing colors,, wonderful patina,, retains original Howard Miller label,, Tested and...
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Metal
1950's Rare George Nelson for Howard Miller Chronopak 4765 Clock
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A wonderful example of a mid century design by George Nelson for the Howard Miller clock company, this Chronopak Model 4765A clock is in beautiful condition and running well and keep...
Category
1950s North American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Metal
George Nelson Starburst Clock
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Iconic design by George Nelson
Category
1950s American Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Hardwood
Early Production Iconic Ball Clock Designed by George Nelson for Howard Miller
Located in San Diego, CA
A very hard to find and early iconic ball clock designed by George Nelson for Howard Miller, circa 1950s. The clock is in original vintage condition with an 8 feet long plug in elec...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Wood Clocks
Materials
Metal, Brass
Rare Mosaic Tile Wall Clock in Walnut by George Nelson & Assoc circa 1950s
Located in Troy, MI
Rare George Nelson And Associates Mosaic Tile Wall Clock
Designed by Irving Harper for George Nelson and Associates and produced by Howard Miller
Model 2232
1957
Walnut frame with...
Category
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Wood Clocks
Materials
Walnut, Glass
Checkerboard Table Clock, "Tempo 21" Tower 2 by George Nelson, 1984
Located in Kansas City, MO
Rare postmodern cream, brown, and navy checkerboard table clock by Howard Miller Clock Company. From the 1984 "Tempo 21" collection. Very few signs...
Category
1980s North American Post-Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Aluminum
George Nelson for Howard Miller Midcentury Lucite Grandfather Clock
Located in Countryside, IL
George Nelson for Howard Miller Mid Century lucite Grandfather Clock
This clock measures: 13 wide x 9 deep x 55.25 inches high
We take our photos in a controlled lighting studi...
Category
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Metal
George Nelson Mid Century Ball Clock in Brass and Wood
Located in Weesp, NL
Interestingly, while nearly all of the designs that came out of George’s studio were attributed to him, many were actually designed by him and his team. Some were even designed solely by someone else working at the studio.
Nelson famously recounted the story of how the Ball Clock came to life in an interview decades after it’s release:
“It was one of the really funny evenings. Noguchi came by, Bucky Fuller came by, and here was Irving, and here was I, and Noguchi - who can’t keep his hands off anything - he saw we were working on clocks and started making doodles. Then Bucky sort of brushed Isamu aside. He said, ‘This is a good way to do a clock’ and made some utterly absurd thing. Everybody was taking a crack at this, pushing each other aside and making scribbles. At some point we left – we were suddenly all tired, and we’d had a little bit too much to drink – and the next morning I came back, and here was this roll of paper, and Irving and I looked at it, and somewhere in this roll, there was a ball clock. I don’t know to this day who cooked it up.”
Nevertheless, whoever it was that came up with George Nelson’s designs, it’s almost certain that they would never have come to fruition if it wasn’t for George’s vision and forward-thinking approach.
Can you tell me more about his clocks?
George’s clocks were one of his most impressive bodies of work. In total, he and his team designed over 130 clocks in just three decades.
While it is widely accepted that Irving Harper was the lead designer for the Howard Miller Clock Company at George Nelson Associates, the collection arose after two insightful observations from George: one, that people no longer used the numbers to tell the time; and two, that since most people now used their wristwatch to tell the time, interior clocks were now free to become more decorative in nature.
The clocks were designed and released in batches of 8 and were initially only given numbers for names. The Sunflower Clock was simply ‘Clock 2261’, the Flock of Butterflies Clock was 'Clock 2226’, and so on.
The Ball was the first clock designed by George and his team and it was followed shortly after by the Star, Sunburst, Spindle, Asterisk, Turbine, Flock of Butterflies, Eye and others. The clocks were purposefully abstract and were designed to complement the modernist furniture emerging at the time.
As well as wall clocks, George’s studio also produced a series of desk clocks during that time, most notably the bubble-shaped Night Desk...
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Brass
George Nelson Midcentury Burlwood and Rosewood Grandfather Clock
Located in Countryside, IL
George Nelson Mid Century Burlwood and Rosewood Grandfather Clock
This clock measures: 16.5 wide x 9 deep x 72.5 inches high
We take ou...
Category
1970s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Rosewood, Burl
George Nelson Midcentury Burlwood and Rosewood Grandfather Clock
Located in Countryside, IL
George Nelson midcentury Burlwood and Rosewood Grandfather Clock
This clock measures: 16.5 wide x 9 deep x 72.5 inches high
We take our...
Category
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Rosewood, Burl
Postmodern Howard Miller George Nelson 1984 Metro Table Clock "Tempo 21"
Located in Kansas City, MO
Rare table clock by Howard Miller Clock Company. From the 1984 "Tempo 21" collection. Navy pyramid base with a cream wavy stem that holds the red and green clock...
Category
1980s American Post-Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Aluminum
Postmodern Howard Miller George Nelson 1984 Olympus Table Clock "Tempo 21"
Located in Kansas City, MO
Rare "Olympus" table clock by Howard Miller Clock Company. From the 1984 "Tempo 21" collection. The circular red clock face is upheld by a green pyramid base...
Category
1980s American Post-Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Aluminum
Howard Miller George Nelson 1984 Checkerboard Table Clock, "Tempo 21" Tower 3
Located in Kansas City, MO
Rare postmodern brown and cream checkerboard table clock by Howard Miller Clock Company. From the 1984 "Tempo 21" collection. Slight signs of wear ...
Category
1980s American Post-Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Aluminum
Fritz Hansen & George Nelson Stool Seat Wall Clock
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vintage 1950s George Nelson ball clock for George Nelson and Associates and Howard Miller. This clock was designed with Irving Harper in 1949, and was the first among several iconic clock...
Category
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Wood Clocks
Materials
Brass
George Nelson Birch & Brass Wall Clock for Howard Miller
Located in Los Angeles, CA
George Nelson Birch & Brass wall clock for Howard Miller.
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Brass
George Nelson Model-4758 Wall Clock for Howard Miller
Located in Los Angeles, CA
George Nelson Model-4758 wall clock for Howard Miller.
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Metal
Arthur Umanoff Desk Clock, George Nelson & Associates, 1950s
Located in Houston, TX
George Nelson & Associates
table clock.
Howard Miller Clock Company,
USA.
Rosewood, steel.
Measures: 4.25 W x 3 D x 5.5 H inches.
Signed with decal manufacturer's label t...
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Steel
George Nelson Chess Piece Clock
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Rare model #2251 chess piece table clock designed by George Nelson for Howard Miller Clock Company. Turned walnut base supports w...
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Brass
George Nelson Prototype Domino Clock
Located in Chicago, IL
Nelson office, designed by Irving Harper for Howard Miller.
This is the only clock and was never produced.
Purchased from Howard Miller Executive.
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Wood
George Nelson Mini Grandfather Clock for Howard Miller
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Beautiful half-height tabletop grandfather clock in rosewood. Designed by George Nelson for Howard Miller clock company. Wind-up ...
Category
1950s American Vintage Wood Clocks
Materials
Rosewood
George Nelson #4756 Electric Walnut Wall Clock for Howard Miller
Located in Cincinnati, OH
A round walnut electric wall clock with printed face having white numbers and a bold sun or flower styled orange and yellow design back round . White metal sculptural hands and red s...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Wood Clocks
Materials
Metal
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Interestingly, while nearly all of the designs that came out of George’s studio were attributed to him, many were actually designed by him and his team. Some were even designed solely by someone else working at the studio.
Nelson famously recounted the story of how the Ball Clock came to life in an interview decades after it’s release:
“It was one of the really funny evenings. Noguchi came by, Bucky Fuller came by, and here was Irving, and here was I, and Noguchi - who can’t keep his hands off anything - he saw we were working on clocks and started making doodles. Then Bucky sort of brushed Isamu aside. He said, ‘This is a good way to do a clock’ and made some utterly absurd thing. Everybody was taking a crack at this, pushing each other aside and making scribbles. At some point we left – we were suddenly all tired, and we’d had a little bit too much to drink – and the next morning I came back, and here was this roll of paper, and Irving and I looked at it, and somewhere in this roll, there was a ball clock. I don’t know to this day who cooked it up.”
Nevertheless, whoever it was that came up with George Nelson’s designs, it’s almost certain that they would never have come to fruition if it wasn’t for George’s vision and forward-thinking approach.
Can you tell me more about his clocks?
George’s clocks were one of his most impressive bodies of work. In total, he and his team designed over 130 clocks in just three decades.
While it is widely accepted that Irving Harper was the lead designer for the Howard Miller Clock Company at George Nelson Associates, the collection arose after two insightful observations from George: one, that people no longer used the numbers to tell the time; and two, that since most people now used their wristwatch to tell the time, interior clocks were now free to become more decorative in nature.
The clocks were designed and released in batches of 8 and were initially only given numbers for names. The Sunflower Clock was simply ‘Clock 2261’, the Flock of Butterflies Clock was 'Clock 2226’, and so on.
The Ball was the first clock designed by George and his team and it was followed shortly after by the Star, Sunburst, Spindle, Asterisk, Turbine, Flock of Butterflies, Eye and others. The clocks were purposefully abstract and were designed to complement the modernist furniture emerging at the time.
As well as wall clocks, George’s studio also produced a series of desk clocks during that time, most notably the bubble-shaped Night Desk...
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We take our photos in a controlled lighting studi...
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Previously Available Items
1950s Vintage Isamu Noguchi and George Nelson Howard Miller Ball Clock
Located in San Diego, CA
Vintage Isamu Noguchi and George Nelson Ball Clock. Produced by Howard Miller, with original tag. Designed in 1946. Runs well and retains the original hands, including the second ha...
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George Nelson Howard Miller Hexagonal Wood Frame Clock c 1960/1980's
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George Nelson Design for Herman Miller Rattan Cane Wall Clock
Located in Las Vegas, NV
1970s Herman Miller/George Nelson wall clock.
Wrapped cane over rattan. Quartz movement.
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Located in Buffalo, NY
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George Nelson Spike Sunburst Wall Clock for Howard Miller
Located in Littleton, CO
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...
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