English coach watch with polychrome enamel painting Circa 1785

Gilt metal pair cased coach watch by Timothy Williamson
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A rare, impressive, and large English gilt metal pair cased coach watch with a polychrome enamel painting of a cockerel, circa 1785. The watch features a gilded movement with a verge escapement, a plain flat three-arm balance, a large decoratively pierced balance cock engraved with flowers and foliage, a mask at the neck, the foot similarly decorated, a silver regulation plate, and fusee and chain, cylindrical pillars. It is signed and numbered Tim. Williamson, no. 2696. It also has a white enamel dial with Roman numerals, an outer Arabic minute ring, and gilded beetle poker hands.
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The case includes a plain gilt metal inner case, a plain pendant, and a bow chased and engraved with leaves. It is marked by the case maker’s mark TH incuse and is numbered 2696. The gilt metal outer case has engine-turned bezels, and the centre of the back features a polychrome enamel-painted cockerel within farmland.
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Diameter outer case: 101 mm
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Diameter inner case: 88 mm
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Signed: Tim Williamson
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The movement is operational. There are a few small scratches on the backplate and minor wear on the gilding. The dial has some scratches but is generally in good overall condition. The inner case shows wear on the gilding, especially around the band and the pendant, as well as at the bottom of the case back. The outside of the back has been scratched with the name ‘SLIGO’. The engine turning on the outer case remains well-defined, with some light wear on the gilding at exposed edges. The enamel panel has chip and hairline cracks at the far left of the scene, as well as faint hairline cracks at the base of the scene between the cockerel’s feet and towards the top right of the scene.
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Timothy Williamson, trained as a goldsmith, created numerous intricate watches and clocks for the Chinese market, possibly in collaboration with William Hughes. The Palace Museum in Beijing houses a remarkable musical clock by Timothy Williamson, featuring an automaton figure of a man dressed in period clothing, likely made by Jaquet-Droz. The figure writes eight Chinese characters on a strip of paper using a brush dipped in ink. Also at the Palace Museum are a pair of highly decorative flower vase clocks by Williamson. Another watch made by Williamson for the Chinese market can be found at Sotheby’s London, The Celebration of the English Watch, Part IV, July 6, 2017, lot 26. Timothy Williamson was active in London from approximately 1769 to 1788.