Cuckoo Clocks are Works of Art

Most cuckoo clocks today are made in the "traditional
style" to hang on a wall in your home or office. In the
long history of clock making and time keeping, cuckoo
clocks play a large role in the appreciation of art in
clocks. The traditional style of the cuckoo clock is a
wooden case decorated with carved leaves and animals and an
automation of a bird that appears through a small door
while the clock is striking. A cuckoo clock is typically
pendulum driven, striking the hour and half hour, using
bellows and pipes that imitate the cuckoo call. Today's
cuckoo clocks are almost always driven by weights. The
weights are made of cast iron in a pine cone shape.

As early as 1650, the call of the cuckoo bird in a clock
was being heard in parts of East Germany and a region of
the Czech Republic. It took nearly a century for the cuckoo
clock to find its way to the Black Forest. The cuckoo
clock, as we know it, comes from the region in southwest
Germany, the Black Forest, where a tradition of clock
making started late in the 17th century. The cuckoo clock
is a favorite souvenir of travelers in Germany, where there
are several different firms making the whole clock or parts
of it. The people who make cuckoo clocks are dedicated
craftsmen whose products are works of art. Black Forest,
and Black Forest style-cuckoo clocks command big prices and
are highly sought after in antique stores, flea markets and
retail shops. They are valuable because of their elaborate
hand carvings and unique artistry. The basic cuckoo clock
today, is the railway-house form with is carved leaves,
birds, deer heads and other animals, that have become a
symbol of the Black Forest and recognized anywhere in the
world. In the present market there are also quartz battery
powered cuckoo clocks that produce a digital cuckoo each
hour.

Cuckoo clocks are sold for all budgets, from modest pieces
with little decoration to colossal works of art which
demand high prices. Whether as pendants, toys, games,
postcards, in movies, music and literature, the cuckoo
clock has been or is used in everyday life. The cuckoo
clock is part of our culture and is still one of the most
familiar clocks today. Cuckoo clocks make great gifts,
souvenirs and timepieces that will add charm and character
to any home or office. Cuckoo clocks truly are unique
artistic creations.

Reference: Wikipedia

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