With over 2,700 clocks in Parliament House, perhaps the most remarkable is a magnificent late 18th century Frisian long case clock. The clock was gifted in 1988 to the Australian Parliament from the People and Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Crafted by master Dutch clockmaker Thomas Thomsen, the clock is richly decorated. The main face of the clock has been set to tell the current time in Canberra, Australia, but a second clock face that is concealed in the small painted bell tower of the depicted village tells the time in the Netherlands. The clock also shows the dates and phases of the moon. Dutch astronomical clocks like this example are very rare, with only 12 thought to be left in existence.¹

The clock was presented to Joan Child, then Speaker of the House of Representatives by His Excellency Joris Michael Vos, Ambassador of the Netherlands, on 22 August 1988 to mark both the Bicentenary of the First Fleet of British convict ships arriving in Australia and the opening of Parliament House. The gift was intended to symbolise the shared democratic principles of the two countries.

To keep the clock fully functioning and ensure the mechanisms are clean, staff from the Parliament House Art Collections team manually wind the clock once a week.

When you visit Parliament House make sure to pay the clock a visit and listen out for the chimes which can regularly be heard throughout the Marble Foyer; not bad for 200 years old and still ticking!

Thomas Thomsen
Thomas Thomsen was a significant clockmaker working with his son, Thomas Thomsen Jr, in Amsterdam from the 1760’s. 

References
1. 1. Jaap Zeeman, De Nederlandse Staande Klok, Zwolle, 1996, chapter XIII