Hourglasses – The Collection of Brad Rice

By Jan Manos

The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center’s Collector’s Showcase is proud to present a new exhibit each quarter. Beginning in July and continuing through September, an impressive collection of hourglasses and timers belonging to Brad Rice will be featured. Brad refers to each item in his collection as an “hourglass.” 

Since the beginning of time, man has been interested in ways to document time.  From Stonehenge to nuclear clocks – there have been standing stones, sundials, water timers and, as in Brad’s collection, sand clocks or hourglasses.  Whether measuring minutes or hours, the form is the same.  By definition, “an hourglass is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) from the upper bulb to the lower one. Typically, the upper and lower bulbs are symmetric so that the hourglass will measure the same duration regardless of orientation. The specific duration of time a given hourglass measures is determined by factors including the quantity and coarseness of the particulate matter, the bulb size, and the neck width.”

As a woman, it interests me what men choose to collect. Since Brad and I are good friends, I simply decided to ask him:

What was the hourglass that first started your collection?

My original is a 3-min sand timer that was my maternal grandmother's keepsake of her aunt, who used it to time long distance phone calls in the 1920s and 30s. I loved playing with it at her apartment, so that was the one thing that I wanted when Meema died.

When did you decide you would scout around for another hourglass?

That wasn't really a conscious decision. I just picked up a few here and there as I saw them and they caught my interest.

When did you realize that you had a 'collection'?

I was wandering through an antique store on Magazine Street in New Orleans in the late summer of 2005 and my eye caught an oak display case with curved glass and a really neat carved decoration on top.  I thought. "that would be a great case for all my hourglasses."  At that point I had the epiphany, I had a "collection," and I was a collector.  Luckily, the carved top was removable so the piece could fit in the back of our SUV and head to Georgia.  About a week later Katrina hit the Crescent City.  On CNN I saw video clips of flood water engulfing the very antique shop where I bought the case; without knowing it at the time I'd saved a little piece of history.  It is now one of several cases and shelves holding my collection, along with Deneice's dolphins.

How did you define what you would collect?

It's not hard to define what I do collect -- sand timers that interest me regardless of age or style. On the other hand, what is hard to define is my limits. I basically have three guidelines. First, no duplicates.  A lot of the items are very similar, but they vary with different colors of sand or other minor characteristics.  Second, I don't shop on the Internet.  That's too easy and not very challenging. I love the in-person search, the quest, at antique stores, flea markets, estate sales, gift shops, etc.   To be sure, my family has given me some hourglasses that I know they found on the Internet, but that's OK. I didn't do it.  And third, I have to display what I buy.  If the dozens or hundreds of what one likes is out where one and one's guests can view the items then it is a "collection."  As I see it, if a person starts shoving his or her items away in boxes in under the bed, in closets, or in the attic one has become a hoarder, not a collector. 

Do you have categories or themes in the collection?

Certainly, some do fall into categories. Given my profession I especially like it when I can find old sand timers (or reproductions) with historic interest. Actually, I guess, I have one special category given the way that my collection started. Some 3-minute timers have a telephone motif to suggest their use for timing long distance calls.

Have you always collected both timers and hour glasses?

I tend to use "hourglass" as a generic term regardless of the exact time of any particular sand timer. I have a few in my collection that include more than one timer with different durations grouped in one frame. In our own little joke referencing the many houses in Madison that have special names, Deneice and I honored our respective collections with a small plaque on our front door. It welcomes guests to "Bottlenose Bungalow, home of Hourglass Hall."  Unfortunately, "Sand timer" didn't lend itself to alliteration. 

What is your most cherished sand clock?  Why?

It would have to be the one that I got after my "Meema" died.

Setting aside emotion, what do you think is your most valuable sand clock?

Probably one that I just bought at this year's MMCC antique show.  The dealer described it as 19th Century German probably used in a school to time examinations and exercises. It is only the second one that I've seen at the MMCC show in ten years, I still sometimes regret not buying the one I saw back in 2012 or 2013, but it seemed at the moment that the dealer was excessively proud of it.  I'm willing to spend a good bit of money, but I have walked away from a few that I thought were overpriced.

Setting aside cost, what is a ‘holy grail’ in sand clocks you would like to find to buy?

I'd love to find a handblown 18th or 19th Century one that was used on a ship to time sailor shifts.  They are out there, but they are very expensive and sometimes faked. I do have a couple of acknowledged reproductions.  My "holy grail" place to shop for hourglasses is a tiny little shop in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome called Polvere di Tempo -- Sand (or dust) of time.  The owner specializes in unique, mostly handmade, designs.  They are not historic, but they are fascinating.  I bought several a few years ago and wish that I had bought more. The next time that Deneice and I are in Rome we will head straight there, and she will have to restrain me.