CIRCA 1756-58

This clock came into the possession of the family of the current owners after being seen by Patricio Bartolomé Flores Calderón whilst travelling in the northern province of Soria, in Spain, in around 1855. He discovered it in the house of a priest, who had removed the group surmounting the clock and the four corner elements on account of their partial nudity. The clock was purchased on the condition that the group should be included, however the four figures from the corners were never recovered. Family legend of how the clock came to be in Spain tells of a possible ducal gift from the House of Alba (the Dukes of Alba had direct ties to the Dukes of Berwick) to Carlos III in around 1768. There it was said to have remained in the royal collection until the turbulent times of the Peninsular War when, possibly in order to protect the clock from French troops, it was given to a priest. If this story is to be believed, the clock came into the Spanish Royal collection at about the time that Carlos III founded his porcelain manufactory at Buen Retiro. This supposed provenance is tempting when one compares the present example to clocks of similar form made at Buen Retiro, see Carmen Manueco Santurtún et al., Manufacturia Del Buen Retiro 1760-1808 Exhibition Catalogue, Madrid, 1999, pp. 278-279, no. 85, and the example sold by Sotheby's on 21 May 1957, lot 39.

John Stephen Rimbault is recorded in Great St Andrews Street, London (1744-1785) and appears to have specialised in musical and automaton clocks. The movement of the present clock is unusually small for a musical clock and was specially designed or adapted to fit the Chelsea porcelain case. The layout of the music train is also unusual, being inverted and having the pinwheel, hammer work and nest of bells positioned across the back plate instead of above the plates, as is more usual. This was clearly necessary as there is insufficient space in the top of the case.