SchoolArts - November 2008

Matchsafe with Perpetual Calendar, Chester, of those unique elements—its front features
England, 1887–88. Silver, enamel, bone, leather a perpetual calendar, which can be used for a
case. Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, span of several years. Besides calendars, other
Smithsonian Institution. Gift of Stephen W. Brener matchsafes contained compartments to store
and Carol B. Brener, 1980-14-207. Photo: Matt stamps, photographs, coins, and even com-
Flynn. passes. The inclusion of calendars and clocks
on matchsafes was popular among travelers

Beginning around the 1840s, the matchsafe Think of objects you have that serve multiple
was used to store matches and was equipped tasks. Do you have any current accessories
with a rough striking surface. Usually palm- that could be combined to make them more
sized and rectangular in shape, the matchsafe efficient, portable, or compact?
provided its user with the ability to generate a
flame with little effort. Many matchsafes also _By _Barbara _Pierce _Bush, _Kim _{Robledo-Diga,}contained unique design elements. and Marianna Siciliano of the Cooper-Hewitt,
This British-made matchsafe contains one ^National ^Design ^Museum.

Humans have been designing ways to cre- to help them remain punctual. The matchsafe ate and control fire since the beginning of was well suited for travelers because of its humankind, but not until the early nineteenth compact size and because it served more than century were objects created to aid in making a one purpose. This matchsafe design shows flame with ease. Today we are used to lighters that a compact product serving several pur-sparking a flame with one simple hand move- poses will always interest a purchaser. ment, but before the lighter, the matchsafe, was used. Things to Consider

GalleryCard SchoolArts November 2008

This type of calendar is known as a per- This calendar was used in the eighteenth petual calendar—a device used to determine century to mark time just as we use objects the exact day of the week a particular date falls today for the same purpose. How is this object on during the present year for an infinite num- different from the objects we use today for the ber of years. The information on the calendar same purpose? Is there anything about these is organized with blank spaces for the days of objects that suggests what they are used for, the week on the left side, with the numbers like the symbols of time on this perpetual cal-of dates arranged sequentially on a grid in the endar? Why or why not? center.

For centuries, calendars have marked the pass- strongly emphasize the function of the object.

ing of time. Their appearances are varied, and their design can take many forms. Things to Consider

Perpetual Calendar (Calendrier Perpétual), gorical figures that represent time. The image
France, Neo-Classical, 1790–1800. Brush and seen at the base of the “clock” is Cronos, or
watercolor over engraving on light-blue laid paper, Father Time, rowing a boat. The two columns
14 x 10⁵/8” ( 35 x 27 cm). Cooper-Hewitt, National that flank the calendar represent days of the
Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Museum week and the four seasons. Placed above the
purchase through gift of Mrs. John Innes Kane, calendar is an image of an hourglass, suggest-
1945-18-3. Photo: Matt Flynn. ing another entity of time. The combination
of a calendar, clock, and hourglass is meant to

This Calendrier Perpétual takes the form of an intricate eighteenth-century clock that includes columns, antique figures, and alle-

By Barbara Pierce Bush, Kim Robledo-Diga,

and Marianna Siciliano of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

GalleryCard SchoolArts November 2008

Jacob Emmanuel Laminit (1719–60), Portable helps level the instrument. The fine engraving
Equatorial Sundial, Augsburg, Germany, ca. is typical of the workshops in Augsburg, Ger-
1748; Gilded brass, glass, metal. Cooper-Hewitt, many, an important center for manufacturing
National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution. scientific instruments beginning in the late
Gift of the trustees of the estate of James Hazen 1500s. A camel, horse, lion, and monkey are
Hyde, 1960-1-12. engraved in each corner, representing Europe,
Africa, Asia, and the Americas. On the face
of the compass is a mermaid and triton—
creatures linked to voyage and travel.
The sundial has undergone significant
transformations since its creation. Evolving
from a large, stationary object to a compact
device has greatly improved its usefulness.

This portable sundial, which also serves as a compass, was designed in 1748 by German designer Jacob Emmanuel Laminit. In Things to Consider eighteenth-century Germany, the sundial was Just like the evolution of the sundial from a modified to include a band of metal placed in a stationary to portable object, other objects groove on the ring so that it could be adjusted could transform in a similar way. What depending on the time of year. The numbers objects used today could be made portable and one through twelve represent each month and more efficient in the future? are engraved on the inside of the ring.

Travelers could set this universal pocket _By _Barbara _Pierce _Bush, _Kim _{Robledo-Diga,}sundial to tell time while in different latitudes and Marianna Siciliano of the Cooper-Hewitt,

all over the world. The plumb-bob (the vertical ^National ^Design ^Museum.piece in the middle of the ring) below the dial

The sundial, one of the earliest devices used to tell time, has taken many forms over the course of its use. This object is often envisioned as a large, heavy object placed in a garden, but portable sundials did exist.

GalleryCard SchoolArts November 2008

_Columbia _University _in _New _York. _Each _year, If you could make a poster for an event that beginning with 1984, Willi Kunz has designed ^occurs ^every ^year, ^what ^would ^it ^be? ^Thinka poster for each lecture at the school. Even ^about ^the ^way ^you ^would ^design ^your ^poster.though the poster is used as advertising for ^How ^would ^you ^make ^the ^design ^consistent,a lecture about architecture and design, the ^yet ^unique ^for ^every ^poster?poster itself is also a work of design that can be examined on its own.

This poster, designed by Willi Kunz for a leg- ^Kunz’s ^design ^not ^only ^informs ^the ^public ^of_endary _lecture _series _at _Columbia _University, lecture series details, but also, by keeping a is an example of the work of one designer over ^uniform ^style, ^allows ^{lecture-goers} ^to ^imme-_the _course _of _many _years. _The _poster _was _made diately identify the series without reading a to advertise the prestigious lecture series that ^word.takes place biannually at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at ^Things ^to ^Consider

are used in each poster made over the course of two decades, yet Kunz manages to reinvent them within each poster. As a graphic designer, Willi Kunz designs elements that visually communicate with their viewers.