This clock is a former possession of architect Hack Kampmann and it has been passed on from eldest son to eldest son for centuries in the Kampmann family. In the inventory of the possessions of the Kampmann family it is described as follows: ¿The large ¿Elephant clock¿, a French bronze clock from about 1750, made by Chevallier Her. du Roy (clock-maker to the royal French court), was probably commissioned by the Russian tsar ¿ until the revolution in 1917 a counterpart to this clock could be found at the Hermitage Castle near St. Petersburg.¿ The clock was most likely sent by ship from France, since it was originally purchased by Henrik Hacksen Kampmann (1716–1795), vicar in Skjæve, at an auction of items recovered from a stranded ship. Since then, this clock has been a family heirloom, passed on by tradition to the head of the family generation after generation. Later, Hack Kampmann of Sneumgaard (1747–1807) had a small mahogany cabinet made to serve as a base for the clock. It was, at one point, part of an exhibition arranged by the Copenhagen watch and clock makers¿ guild.

The Kampmann family:

Hack Henriksen Kampmann, 1674–1743, owner of Ørndrup Manor Henrik Hacksen Kampmann 1716–1795, vicar in Skjæve Hack Kampmann 1747–1807, owner of Sneumgaard Manor and the Kampmann estate in Varde, titular Councillor Niels Øllgaard Kampmann 1786–1828, owner of Sneumgaard Manor  Hack Kampmann, 1813–1878, District Judge, titular Councillor of State, Member of Parliament and the Council of the Realm. Niels Øllgaard Kampmann, 1843–1914, Mayor, District Judge  Erik Pontoppidan Kampmann 1880–1942, Director of the national prison administration Hack Kampmann, 1913–2005, Architect Hack and Karin Kampmann¿s five children