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Lot Essay
US$350,000-562,500
From the 16th century, Chinese emperors and their courtiers developed an insatiable appetite for clocks, watches and mechanical curiosities made in Europe. Pocket watches were considered valuable commodities and status symbols, luxury objects that came from the West. Entrepreneurial watch makers from the West, or "Sing Song Merchants" as they were called, looked upon China as the new market and created designs and mechanisms especially for the Chinese Market. These timepieces often came in fanciful shpaes and associated horological complications with extreme miniaturisation with the creative artistry of master goldsmiths and artisans. Today more than one thousand examples of such rarities still exist at the Beijing Palace Museum located in the Forbidden City.
A stunning marriage of 19th century Swiss technology and exquisite craftsmanship, this pistol combined with watch and perfume sprinkler epitomizes the creativity of watch makers in Europe to satisfy the ever-growing demands for clocks and automata by the Imperial Court and its courtiers in China, as well as European aristocrats and royal families, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Another variant of automated pistols featuring a signing bird instead of a perfume sprinkler mechanisim, which are larger in size can be found in the world's most prestigious museums and private collections. One single pistol is found in the Museum for Islamic art in Jerusalem which houses the Sir David Salomons Magnificent Collection of Clocks and Watches (see The Art of Time - The Sir David Salomons Collection of Watches and Clocks by George Daniels and Ohannes Markarian, L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art, edition 2009. p.62). Another single pistol is recorded int he Maurice Sandoz Collection in Switzerland. The Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, Switzerland owns two single pistols, one of which was purchased at Christie's in 1989. Only one pair of singing bird pistols is known to remain in private hands which sold in these rooms in May 2011.
From the 16th century, Chinese emperors and their courtiers developed an insatiable appetite for clocks, watches and mechanical curiosities made in Europe. Pocket watches were considered valuable commodities and status symbols, luxury objects that came from the West. Entrepreneurial watch makers from the West, or "Sing Song Merchants" as they were called, looked upon China as the new market and created designs and mechanisms especially for the Chinese Market. These timepieces often came in fanciful shpaes and associated horological complications with extreme miniaturisation with the creative artistry of master goldsmiths and artisans. Today more than one thousand examples of such rarities still exist at the Beijing Palace Museum located in the Forbidden City.
A stunning marriage of 19th century Swiss technology and exquisite craftsmanship, this pistol combined with watch and perfume sprinkler epitomizes the creativity of watch makers in Europe to satisfy the ever-growing demands for clocks and automata by the Imperial Court and its courtiers in China, as well as European aristocrats and royal families, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Another variant of automated pistols featuring a signing bird instead of a perfume sprinkler mechanisim, which are larger in size can be found in the world's most prestigious museums and private collections. One single pistol is found in the Museum for Islamic art in Jerusalem which houses the Sir David Salomons Magnificent Collection of Clocks and Watches (see The Art of Time - The Sir David Salomons Collection of Watches and Clocks by George Daniels and Ohannes Markarian, L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art, edition 2009. p.62). Another single pistol is recorded int he Maurice Sandoz Collection in Switzerland. The Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, Switzerland owns two single pistols, one of which was purchased at Christie's in 1989. Only one pair of singing bird pistols is known to remain in private hands which sold in these rooms in May 2011.