English key wound verge made for the Ottoman market Circa 1790

Gilt silver enamelled pocket watch by Markwick Markham
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An English gilded silver and enamel hunting cased key wound pocket watch made for the Ottoman market, circa 1780-1800. The movement with a verge escapement. White enamel dial with Ottoman numerals and decorative hands. The case is richly engraved and polychrome enamelled inside and out, a painted enamel scene on the inside of the front cover. Dial signed, movement signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Weight: 112 g
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Signed: Markwick Markham London
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Markwick Markham. James Markwick and his son James Jr. were both fine watchmakers and worked in London.

The elder was apprenticed on June 25th, 1656 to Richard Taylor and subsequently to Edward Gilpin. He became free of the Clockmakers’ Company on August 6th, 1666. Six apprentices were bound to him between 1674 and 1699. In 1673, he succeeded the business of Samuel Betts behind the Royal Exchange. Although he held office in the Clockmakers’ Company, he was irregular in attendance, ceasing to tend to its affairs after 1700. He worked until at least 1706.

His son, James Markwick Jr., became free of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1692 by patrimony. The younger James Markwick was an eminent maker, Master of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1720 and a very early user of jewelled bearings. Later, he was in partnership with his son-in-law Robert Markham, who succeeded him using the trading name of Markwick Markham, which became famous for watches destined for the Turkish market. Not only did this notoriety encourage the appearance of spuriously signed watches, but at the end of the century Markham, or his successor, associated the names of other watchmakers with their products intended for the East. The makers thus found associated are Francis Perigal, Peter Upjohn, H. Story, Borrell, John Johnson, Louis Recordon and Dupont. All were reputable watchmakers in their own right, selling other products under their own names.