Modernique Clock

Paul T. Frankl’s 1928 clock design for the Warren Telechron Company — marketed as the Modernique — appealed to American consumers’ growing interest in modern design. The Modernique’s metal case, with its step-like sides, starburst motif, and machine-age numbers, mimics the form and ornamentation of a 1920s skyscraper. For Frankl, the skyscraper constituted an ideal of beauty, representing the aspirations of the prevailing American spirit soaring upward.

Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver. Gift of Michael Merson, 2010.0670