English gold duplex watch made for Chinese market Circa 1815
- Kenmerk
- TA1574
- Diameter
- 59 mm
- Estimate
- € 60.000 - 110.000
- Price sold
- € 201.000
Gold, enamel and pearl-set pocket watch
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An extremely fine and rare, unusual English 18K gold, enamel and pearl-set centre seconds duplex pocket watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1815. Prosperity for the Journey by Ilbery.
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An Empire case, the pendant and bow decorated with royal blue enamel and split pearls-set, the band decorated with lozenges and flowerheads of royal blue, pale green and pale blue enamel, translucent red enamel border, the back cover decorated with a finely painted on enamel scene of a Cantonese harbour with Chinese junks on the water and mountains in the background, in the foreground a good luck ceremony is being performed with burning incense and a string of firecrackers, musicians and a group of gentlemen in 17th Century Chinese costumes performing the ceremony, split pearl set border and bezel.
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Sprung gilt metal cuvette hinged to the movement ring. White enamel dial with radial Roman hours, outer minute and seconds divisions, Arabic 15-minute numerals, gold heart hands. A frosted gilt movement, Chinese calibre, foliate engraved standing barrel and cocks, duplex escapement, bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel weights, temperature adjustment screws, blued steel flat balance spring, diamond endstone, index regulator. Movement signed.
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An extremely fine and rare, unusual English 18K gold, enamel and pearl-set centre seconds duplex pocket watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1815. Prosperity for the Journey by Ilbery.
–
An Empire case, the pendant and bow decorated with royal blue enamel and split pearls-set, the band decorated with lozenges and flowerheads of royal blue, pale green and pale blue enamel, translucent red enamel border, the back cover decorated with a finely painted on enamel scene of a Cantonese harbour with Chinese junks on the water and mountains in the background, in the foreground a good luck ceremony is being performed with burning incense and a string of firecrackers, musicians and a group of gentlemen in 17th Century Chinese costumes performing the ceremony, split pearl set border and bezel.
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Sprung gilt metal cuvette hinged to the movement ring. White enamel dial with radial Roman hours, outer minute and seconds divisions, Arabic 15-minute numerals, gold heart hands. A frosted gilt movement, Chinese calibre, foliate engraved standing barrel and cocks, duplex escapement, bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel weights, temperature adjustment screws, blued steel flat balance spring, diamond endstone, index regulator. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 59 mm
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Signed: Ilbery London
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Former property of a European Collector.
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The present watch is a very special type made for the Chinese market depicting an actual Chinese scene. These scenes are particularly rare because watches for the Chinese market are usually decorated with images taken from western art, often English engravings and scenes from mythology. The view decorating this watch shows a ceremony giving good luck to a ship on its journey, the harbour is probably Canton. The figures are dressed in 17th Century costumes and it is therefore probable that the enameller took his design from a 17th-century Chinese painting that had been brought to Europe. Four watches painted in a similar manner are in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.
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William Ilbery (circa 1760-1839). Active in London from 1780 in Goswell Street, he moved to Duncan Terrace towards the end of the 18th century. After James Cox in London and Jaquet Droz in Switzerland, he also specialized in producing luxury watches for the Chinese market. His early production was very much in the English style, featuring a full plate movement and an English-type single-wheel duplex escapement. However, for his highest-quality watches, he incorporated a spring detent escapement. Later, the watch movements he produced were much inspired by the Lépine calibre with a free-standing barrel, as were Jaquet Droz’s Swiss production signed in London and that of William Anthony, who worked in London. The cases of his watches were sumptuously decorated by the best Genevan enamellers, such as Jean-Francois-Victor Dupont, who usually signed his work, and Jean-Louis Richter, who signed rarely. He organized the production in Switzerland, mainly in Fleurier, of profusely engraved movements for the Asian market. He was followed in this by makers such as Bovet and Juvet who also worked in Fleurier (Val de Travers). Ilbery can therefore be considered one of the most representative makers of ‘Chinese’ watches. He seems to have maintained close contacts with the continental trade since a watch signed ‘Ilbery Paris’ is known and Ilbery & Son are recorded in London and Fleurier, as well as in Canton.
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Signed: Ilbery London
–
Former property of a European Collector.
–
The present watch is a very special type made for the Chinese market depicting an actual Chinese scene. These scenes are particularly rare because watches for the Chinese market are usually decorated with images taken from western art, often English engravings and scenes from mythology. The view decorating this watch shows a ceremony giving good luck to a ship on its journey, the harbour is probably Canton. The figures are dressed in 17th Century costumes and it is therefore probable that the enameller took his design from a 17th-century Chinese painting that had been brought to Europe. Four watches painted in a similar manner are in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.
–
William Ilbery (circa 1760-1839). Active in London from 1780 in Goswell Street, he moved to Duncan Terrace towards the end of the 18th century. After James Cox in London and Jaquet Droz in Switzerland, he also specialized in producing luxury watches for the Chinese market. His early production was very much in the English style, featuring a full plate movement and an English-type single-wheel duplex escapement. However, for his highest-quality watches, he incorporated a spring detent escapement. Later, the watch movements he produced were much inspired by the Lépine calibre with a free-standing barrel, as were Jaquet Droz’s Swiss production signed in London and that of William Anthony, who worked in London. The cases of his watches were sumptuously decorated by the best Genevan enamellers, such as Jean-Francois-Victor Dupont, who usually signed his work, and Jean-Louis Richter, who signed rarely. He organized the production in Switzerland, mainly in Fleurier, of profusely engraved movements for the Asian market. He was followed in this by makers such as Bovet and Juvet who also worked in Fleurier (Val de Travers). Ilbery can therefore be considered one of the most representative makers of ‘Chinese’ watches. He seems to have maintained close contacts with the continental trade since a watch signed ‘Ilbery Paris’ is known and Ilbery & Son are recorded in London and Fleurier, as well as in Canton.
Signed: Ilbery London
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