A RARE IMPERIAL CHINESE ORMOLU, WHITE MARBLE AND PASTE-SET 'LYRE' CLOCK WITH SWINGING DIAL -

(Set Currency)

HK$1,200,000 - HK$1,500,000
• ($155,308 - $194,135)

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Sale 2811
The Imperial Sale Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
31 May 2010
Hong Kong Buy Catalog

A RARE IMPERIAL CHINESE ORMOLU, WHITE MARBLE AND PASTE-SET 'LYRE' CLOCK WITH SWINGING DIAL
GUANGZHOU WORKSHOPS, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795), LATE 18TH CENTURY

CASE: elegantly formed of lyre-shape, the framework embellished with an inner row of sapphire-blue square-cut paste gems, bordered by an outer row of red and transparent pentagonal-cut paste gems, the upper section centred by a oval pendant, delicately enamelled in gilt to depict a covered urn surmounted by a bird on a royal blue guilloché enamel ground, encircled by a border of circular red paste gems, the whole structure raised on an elliptic-form ormolu mount of overlapping acanthus leaves, supported on a stepped oval-section marble base, its polished spreading waist further embellished with a paste-inset butterfly dividing florettes, above a stepped foot with a beaded border
DIAL: with floral-form bezel of pentagonal-cut red pastes and with ormolu beaded inner ring, the white enamel dial with crossed minute track, Roman hour chapters and Arabic quarters, pierced ormolu hour and minute hands and blued steel seconds hand
MOVEMENT: twin going barrels with rear wind, the anchor escapement with escape wheel positioned on the back plate, count-wheel strike on bell, the back plate inscribed with a 'nonsense' signature
23 5/8 in. (60 cm.) high x 14 1/2 in. (36.8 cm.) wide x 9 7/8 in. (25.2 cm.) deep, overall; 19 in. (48.2) high x 8 1/2 in. (21.5 cm.) wide x 5 in. (12.7 cm.) deep, the clock

清乾隆 廣州
鎏金銅嵌琺瑯料石雲石座琵琶自擺鐘

此鐘源自日本山中商會，1935年於大阪美術俱樂部舉行之《支那古美術展覽會》中展出，見展覽目錄第153號 (圖一)。

I confirm that I have read this Important Notice and agree to its terms.

Yamanaka Shokai

Exhibition of Chinese Antiques, Yamanaka Shokai, Osaka Bijutsu Club, November 1935, no. 153 (fig. 1)

The inspiration of this form is derived from the lyre clocks of the late Louis XVI period, France. Interestingly, whilst the case design owes much to a French influence, the dial retains features found on English clocks of the 1790s, notably the crossed minute track and simple pierced hands. During the late Qianlong period, master clocksmiths working in the Guangzhou (Canton) workshops were able to combine both Western technology and decorative styles with distinctive Chinese themes and motifs. The 'nonsense' inscription on the reverse side of the back plate of the movement demonstrates an apparent lack of concern of non-English speaking craftsmen and their Imperial patrons. This type of inscription also appears on the double-gourd shaped clock from the Nezu Museum collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1501. The style of the present 'lyre' clock and the Nezu 'double-gourd' clock are evidently related in their decorative style. Whilst the present clock retains its French inspired shape, the 'double-gourd' clock reflected a traditional Chinese 'taste' as gourds have long been association as a symbol for fertility and good fortune.

An automaton clock mounted with a similarly embellished 'lyre' atop a gilt-bronze elephant is in the Beijing Palace Museum collection, illustrated in Qinggong Zhongbiao Zhencang, Forbidden City Press, 1995, p. 163. The Palace Museum example is catalogued as a European clock imported from England. However, the cited Nezu Museum example and the present clock were more likely to have been ordered by one of the Guangdong officials and rendered as tribute to Emperor Qianlong. For a discussion of the Guangzhou workshops, cf. Yang Boda, Tribute from Guangdong to the Qing Court, pp. 63-64, where the author mentioned that the Qing emperors had "lived and worked under the chimes of their clocks".

• Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art

• early 19th Century
• 18th Century
• mantel
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• China
• Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

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