Compare with a gilded bronze and lacquered clock in the form of a two tiere pavilion, made in the Palace workshops and illustrated by Holdsworth and Courtauld, The Forbidden City, The Great Within, p. 135. The clock is set in the centre, flanked by outdoor scenery very similar to the present lot, the second story has three rotating figures, each holding a bell and exiting seperate rooms. The authors write (p. 134) that the emperors Kangxi and Qianlong were amused by automata, and collected thousands of clocks and mechanical toys in their day. The Hall of Fulfilled Wishes Ruyi Guan within the inner court was used as a workshop and studio for both European and Chinese painters, architects and mechanics working on these clocks and mechanical objects