Lot Essay
Vulliamy records do not begin until 1797 when the numbering had reached 296. However, in J.T. Cranmer Byng's Embassy to China: Lord Macartney's Journal, 1793-94, London, 1962, n. 12, it is stated that clock number 253 was made in 1792-93. This suggests that this clock, no. 242, was made circa 1791.
This clock celebrates the triumph of Love with Euterpe, the muse of Lyric poetry, framed by a triumphal arch. The muse was modelled by the Swiss virtuoso Johann Jakob Wilhelm Spangler during the five years that he was employed by William Duesbury at the Derby porcelain factory. His contracts with Duesbury, dated July and September 1790, were witnessed by Benjamin Vulliamy, clockmaker to King George III (T. Clifford. 'J.J. Spangler', Connoisseur, June 1978, pp. 146-155).
A porcelain figure of the same Euterpe is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, no. C.309-1940.
A temple clock of this design was sold anonymously, Sotheby's London, 5 December 1958, lot 103. It was numbered 304. Another example was sold from Malahide Castle, Ireland, Christie's house sale, 10 May 1976, lot 56 and is now at Temple Newsam House, Leeds
This clock celebrates the triumph of Love with Euterpe, the muse of Lyric poetry, framed by a triumphal arch. The muse was modelled by the Swiss virtuoso Johann Jakob Wilhelm Spangler during the five years that he was employed by William Duesbury at the Derby porcelain factory. His contracts with Duesbury, dated July and September 1790, were witnessed by Benjamin Vulliamy, clockmaker to King George III (T. Clifford. 'J.J. Spangler', Connoisseur, June 1978, pp. 146-155).
A porcelain figure of the same Euterpe is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, no. C.309-1940.
A temple clock of this design was sold anonymously, Sotheby's London, 5 December 1958, lot 103. It was numbered 304. Another example was sold from Malahide Castle, Ireland, Christie's house sale, 10 May 1976, lot 56 and is now at Temple Newsam House, Leeds