The Chicago Saturday Evening Herald announced it to be a “gigantic and stately achievement” and “the handsomest conceivable memorial to our grand exhibition.” The achievement in question was a timepiece, but not just any old clock. It was ornate, 11 feet tall and weighing nearly two tons, carved from American walnut embellished with silver-plated reliefs and golden figurines. The Exposition Clock, as it was known, had been commissioned by Queen Victoria as a gift to the United States on the occasion of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The…
