The Gallery of Decorative Arts
Silverware, delftware, porcelain and clocks can be seen around Den Gamle By as part of the complete interiors in the homes, shops and businesses. At the Gallery of Decorative Arts, however, the idea is to focus on the qualities of each individual artefact, showing how the items changed through the years.
Silverware
Turning left when entrering the Gallery of Decorative Arts you will find a beautiful collection of silverware. The exhibition covers a period from the 1500s to the mid-1900s, and contains almost 800 silverware objects created by a total of 309 master silversmiths from 44 Danish towns and cities.
In the collection there is a variety of pots for tea, coffee and hot chocolate, vinaegrettes, different kinds of cups, lid tankards, cultery, medallions and a large collection of silverspoons. The exhibition shows how items changed through time in Denmark.
Delftware and procelain
In the gallery you will find our exhibition of delftware and porcelain that contains around 350 objects such as plates, pitchers, cups, tureens, punch bowls, lidded dishes, finger bowls, salt cellars, sugar bowls, medallions, ornamental vases and other fine pieces.
Most of the items here are from the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s, and from all around Denmark and other countries like England, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and the Far East. The exhibition shows the delftware and porcelain used by the Danish middle and upper classes over the years.
Clocks and watches
The Danish Museum of Clocks and Watches is the national collection of timepieces founded in 1934. Here are around 400 clocks and watches in the exhibition, showing the chronicle development of timekeeping in Denmark from the late 1300s and well into the 1900s.
Amongst the collection is a very large collection of pocket watches, containing the most beautiful pocket watch in the world, made in a gold case by Swiss watchmakers Girard-Perregaux between 1889 and 1900. The tourbillon escapement in the watch makes it superbly precise.
