Everyone has those places that they always visit when they return to their favourite cities. For me in London, I always visit Kensington Palace. There is always the perfect mix Stuart and Georgian history in the Queen’s State Apartments and the King’s State Apartments. And the royal fashion history doesn’t hurt, either. However, what I love most is that a lot of history is hidden in plain sight there. (In fairness, there is a lot to take in.) This History Bite is looking at the musical clock in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace!
The Cupola Room
If you missed it in my King’s State Apartments post, the Cupola Room was added by George I. He commissioned William Kent to design and complete the room, who featured the Star of the Order of the Garter in the centre of the ceiling. However, there is something else that grabs your attention in the middle of the room…
The Musical Clock in the Cupola Room
As soon as you step through the doorway, you cannot help but notice a very sizeable object in the middle of the room. I’ve heard some people guess that it is a fountain, others a sculpture. However, it is actually a musical clock!
“The strange object in the centre of the room is a clock, a music box that plays Handel and an artwork to boot. The pictures on the sides depict four monarchies from antiquity. Completed in 1743, it was bought by Princess Augusta, George II’s daughter-in-law.” (Discover Kensington Palace, p.20.)
Sadly, the mechanism that allows the clock to play music no longer works, but it played music from three contemporary composers: Handel, Francesco Geminiani, and Arcangelo Corelli. You can still enjoy the artwork and bronzes though, whenever you visit!
Have you seen the musical clock in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace?
Cheers,
The Historian
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