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Lot Essay
US$30,000-40,000
This watch is accompanied by a fitted box.
This watch is a wonderful example of European watchmaking technique combined with the long history of the Chinese Imperial Workshop of Guangzhou glassware.
James Cox (1723-circa 1791) was a creative genius and had been established as a jeweller and maker of automata or 'toys of the heart' since 1749. He was renowned for his complicated musical and automaton clocks, the majority of which were exported abroad to adorn the palaces of the Emperor Qianlong and Indian Maharajas as well as the Tsar of Russia and Ottoman Kings.
Glass encrusted watches were particularly favoured by the Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) as well as glass encrusted ornaments and clocks, and many such pieces were sent as gifts or tributes to the Palace.
This particular piece was probably intended as a presentation object to the Imperial court and appears to be from Guangzhou. This area was famous for its composition which varied strongly from any other Chinese glass work as well as from the foreign glass technology. The history of glass in Guangzhou dates back as far as the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and results in a difference in firing techniques.
Previously sold at Christie's Geneva, 16 November 1994, Lot 286.
A set of glass encrusted belt buckle watches are illustrated in Catalogue of the Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Costume Accessories, National Palace Museum, No. 34. Other similar pieces can also be seen in Timepieces Collected by Qing Dynasty Emperors in the Palace Museum, p. 205 and 208.
A similar belt buckle watch was sold in these rooms on 1 November 2004, Lot 1289.
An Imperial presentation Ruyi sceptre and a wall-hanging vase-form timepiece decorated in similar technique were also sold in these rooms on 26 April 2004, Lots 1388 and 1387.
This watch is accompanied by a fitted box.
This watch is a wonderful example of European watchmaking technique combined with the long history of the Chinese Imperial Workshop of Guangzhou glassware.
James Cox (1723-circa 1791) was a creative genius and had been established as a jeweller and maker of automata or 'toys of the heart' since 1749. He was renowned for his complicated musical and automaton clocks, the majority of which were exported abroad to adorn the palaces of the Emperor Qianlong and Indian Maharajas as well as the Tsar of Russia and Ottoman Kings.
Glass encrusted watches were particularly favoured by the Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) as well as glass encrusted ornaments and clocks, and many such pieces were sent as gifts or tributes to the Palace.
This particular piece was probably intended as a presentation object to the Imperial court and appears to be from Guangzhou. This area was famous for its composition which varied strongly from any other Chinese glass work as well as from the foreign glass technology. The history of glass in Guangzhou dates back as far as the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and results in a difference in firing techniques.
Previously sold at Christie's Geneva, 16 November 1994, Lot 286.
A set of glass encrusted belt buckle watches are illustrated in Catalogue of the Exhibition of Qing Dynasty Costume Accessories, National Palace Museum, No. 34. Other similar pieces can also be seen in Timepieces Collected by Qing Dynasty Emperors in the Palace Museum, p. 205 and 208.
A similar belt buckle watch was sold in these rooms on 1 November 2004, Lot 1289.
An Imperial presentation Ruyi sceptre and a wall-hanging vase-form timepiece decorated in similar technique were also sold in these rooms on 26 April 2004, Lots 1388 and 1387.