Timeline

Built in 1774, the Blackboy Clock is a clock depicting a childlike figure with black skin, red lips, and a gold leaf skirt. Originally designed and assembled by watchmaker John Miles, it was made for the front of a demolished shop he lived above, on Kendrick Street in Stroud, Gloucestershire. At that time, blackamoor imagery – a European style of decorative art in which dark-skinned human figures are depicted in a stylised and ornate form – was the norm in the public realm. The Blackboy Clock is an example of a Jack clock, where the figure moves to strike a bell on the hour, every hour.