Automaton Clock

Circa 1790-1800

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24� inches high

A very fine and rare musical automaton clock made for the Chinese market. CASE The well-proportioned ebonised fruitwood case is surmounted by a fluted and gilded dome, which is embellished with gilt-brass urn finials with foliate swags and gadrooned bases. Further finials surmount the break arch top and there are handles to the sides which are inset with light green silk-backed sound frets cast with pierced trellis work centred by an elaborate palm tree. The chamfered sides are mounted with trailing floral mounts and the double-footed base is raised on elaborate foliate gilt-brass feet. DIAL The 6 � inch dial is centred by a large white enamel chapter disc which has both Roman and Arabic chapters with elaborately pierced gilt-brass hour and minute hands and a blued steel counterbalanced sweep centre seconds hand. The lower corners are set with subsidiary enamel discs; to the right with a four-tune selection disc and to the left with a disc to select strike or silent mode. The upper and lower spandrels are finely painted with flowers on a blue background. The arch is set with an automaton scene featuring figures in period costume strolling through a neoclassical garden landscape, centred by a house with an architectural pediment with a further building to the right with trees and hills to the background. The foreground is painted on the left side with a gazebo with a domed top and embellished with fluted Ionic pilasters surmounted by urn finials, whilst to the right side of the dial are a couple strolling past a wall with urns above. MOVEMENT The movement has thick brass plates joined by six baluster pillars, triple chain fusees and spring barrels, the going train with anchor escapement, the hour train striking on a large bell positioned on the back plate and the musical train playing one of four excellent tunes on ten bells via sixteen hammers and a three inch long pin barrel. The back plate is profusely engraved with scrolling foliage, centred by a stylised basket of fruit. Height 24� inches high Width 14� inches wide Depth 10 inches deep Literature Derek Roberts, Mystery, Novelty and Fantasy Clocks, Schiffer, 1999, P.207 Fig. 17-10; ISBN: 0-7643-0873-4 Chinese market clocks Some musical automaton clocks of this nature are often erroneously given the generic term �made for the Chinese market�. This particular clock has certain features that would indicate that it was indeed made for the Chinese market. Firstly the dial has a large enamel chapter disc with no winding holes - the clock is in fact wound from the back, this is a feature rarely seen on clocks made for the European market, but regularly found on clocks made for the Chinese market; it�s thought that the Chinese particularly liked the dials to look �clean� and unspoilt by winding holes. Secondly, this clock not signed; whilst many Chinese market clocks were signed by their London makers, a surprisingly large number were not. It is thought that these clocks, which were sold without a maker�s name were easier to sell to the Chinese market; a surprisingly large number of the London-made musical clocks in the Peking Palace Museum are also unsigned. If this particular clock were to have been made for the European market then it would be most unusual for an example of this exceptional quality to leave its maker�s workshop without a signature. Finally, the intricately pierced brass hour and minute hands are of a particular type that were used almost exclusively on clocks made for the Chinese Market. Indeed many similar musical automaton clocks in the Peking Palace Museum have almost identical hands.