Max Bill

Kitchen Clock

1956–1957

Ceramic, metal and glass

Not on view

This kitchen clock with timer embodies longstanding hallmarks of the modern kitchen: timekeeping and efficiency. Its distilled functionalism is characteristic of Bill, the architect-designer best known as the cofounder of the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm, Germany, considered the most influential school of design after the Bauhaus (which Bill attended). This clock was one of the earliest of Bill’s designs to be produced and is considered a classic example of postwar "good design" in everyday objects. Bill later summarized his pragmatic design philosophy: "Functional design considers the visual aspect, that is, the beauty, of an object as a component of its function, but not one that overwhelms its other primary functions."

Gallery label from

Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen, September 15, 2010–March 14, 2011.

Manufacturer Gebrüder Junghans AG, Schramberg, Germany, est. 1861
Medium Ceramic, metal and glass
Dimensions 10 1/4 x 7 5/16 x 2 1/4" (26 x 18.5 x 5.7 cm)
Credit Architecture & Design Purchase Fund
Object number 554.2010
Department Architecture & Design

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