18TH/19TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE AND UNUSUAL SMALL ZITAN WATCH CASE
18TH/19TH CENTURY
Made in the shape of a clock and raised on a tiered plinth fitted with a gilt-copper band of pendent lappets on the front, the front door opens to reveal a gilt-copper plaque cast with lotus scroll. The sides are carved in openwork with further lotus scroll repeated on the reverse, which opens to reveal the interior, and the whole is surmounted by a domed cover.
4½ in. (11.2 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired in Hong Kong in the 1960s-70s.

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Lot Essay

Watch cases, such as the present example, were made in a variety of materials. As they were made to house western-style watches, they are most often associated with the China trade. An elaborately carved ivory example, dated to the 19th century, was included in the exhibition, Ivories of China and the East, Spink and Son, Ltd., London, 8-23 November 1984, no. 211. A gilt-decorated black lacquer watch case fashioned as a steeple, dated circa 1840, is illustrated by C.L. Crossman in The China Trade, Princeton, 1972, p. 133, no. 153.

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