This 30 minute hourglass is a true collectors model that can be displayed as your desk accessory or table centerpiece in your home or office. Brass timer on sturdy, attractive. distressed wood stand. Colors are bronze and brown.

18th C. industrial design, bronze and wood. Collectable because of their combined historical and practical value. Some glasses measured up to two hours, used at a time when church pews were designed by the Inquisition to torture the human back. Ships' hourglasses were calibrated to the half hour of the ship’s watch, and if the helmsman didn’t turn the glass too early it actually doubled in defining longitude. Navigators tried to keep count of the hours: the galleons wrecked on the Western Australian reefs remind us of the perils of incorrectly kept time. To appreciate the important symbolism of the hourglass look at Renaissance painted still lifes, also called vanitas, filled with symbolism and morals. They very often depict hourglasses.