English Swiss cylinder made for the Chinese market Circa 1810

Gold, enamel and half pearl set automaton attributed to John Rich
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An important and unique English Swiss Empire style 20 Carat gold, enamel and split pearl set open faced cylinder pocket watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1810. Fire gilt engraved bridge movement, key wind, two florally engraved barrels, cylinder escapement, three arm brass balance. The front of the case with a four colour gold automaton scene, the scene depicts a cooperage with a miniature enamel painting of a river landscape in the background, the motif shows a man working the hoops on the left, the cooper planning the staves in the centre and a barrel being toasted on the right, when the automaton is activated, the workers start their tasks and the dolphin fountain far on the right spouts water, a peripheral white enamel hour dial with hand painted Arabic numerals framed by a translucid red so called pourpre de cassis enamel border and a floral champlevé outer rim. The case back translucent cobalt blue enamelled over an engine turned ground, both bezels set with half pearls, a pin at 6 o’clock for activating the automaton, a fire gilt middle lid, presumably from the time of the Collection Gustave Loup. The typical design of the movement and the English designations on the central lid indicate that this automaton was made by John Rich. Case numbered. Comes with the original gold and enamel key.
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Diameter: 57 mm
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Weight: 118 g
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Signed: No name
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Around 1780, highly skilled craftsmen in Geneva began producing automatons for the Eastern market. From 1780 to 1850, a great variety of these masterpieces of engineering and artistic skills were created by the most renowned watchmakers such as John Rich in England. The remarkable work of the enamel artists in Geneva as well as the long-standing commercial relationship between Geneva and the Eastern market must have been one of the reasons that convinced John Rich, the famous London maker of timepieces and automatons, to establish a branch in Geneva together with his temporary partner Decombaz.
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John Rich was certainly a fascinating man. Some of his artworks are the most complicated automata such as the so-called ‘The Magician Box’, or the ‘Sandoz Scent Bottle’. Alfred Chapuis and Edmond Droz, both authorities on automata, have described the Magician as “the most remarkable snuffbox known to the authors”. Some boxes that have been examined or restored are signed ‘John Rich London’ or ‘John Rich London & Genève’, whereas some others which are mechanically identical bear no signature at all.
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The gold work. The different hues of gold of the figures were achieved by cutting individual, wafer thin gold platelets and then welding them together and engraving them. Afterwards, the figures were fixed upon silver base plates. The split pearls on the bezels are set in gold and held by four prongs.
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The enamel work. The base plate of the enamel miniature is made of gold and framed by a white enamel border with engraved champlevé ornamentation. The subtle nuances of the miniature painting had to be applied in a step by step process, where the colours with a higher melting point are fired first at 700 to 800 degrees. At the end of the process a clear layer is burned onto the surface. In addition to the fine colouring work it is this clear layer that is a particular quality attribute of this “golden era” of enamel art in Geneva between 1780 and 1840.
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Gustave Loup was born in 1876 and died in 1961. He lived and worked in China for many years and after 1900 he was able to acquire a number of timepieces from various sources, among them the imperial collection in the summer palace in Jehol, which is Chengde today. In his time, Loup owned by far the largest and most valuable collection of timepieces that were produced for the Chinese market.