English pink gold cylinder watch with stop slide Circa 1806

A cylinder watch with a stop slide presented to the anatomist and urgeon Allan Burns
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An English pink gold pair cased cylinder watch with stop slide presented to the anatomist and urgeon Allan Burns, circa 1806, gilded full plate movement, cylinder escapement, decoratively pierced balance cock engraved with scrolling foliage, a bust in profile at the neck, fusee and chain, cylindrical pillars, gilt metal dust cap, signed David Read, Glasgow.
White enamel dial, Arabic numerals, outer minute ring, subsidiary seconds with radial Arabic numerals at the quarters interspersed by stars, elaborate gold moon hands.
Plain pink gold inner case, stop slide beneath the bezel between 8 and 9 o’clock, regency pendant, pink gold outer case with presentation inscription indistinctly signed ‘Diarie[?] scupsit’, both cases hallmarked Chester 1806 and with maker’s mark JW incuse for Joseph Wickes.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Signed: David Read Glasgow
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The case back is beautifully engraved with a signed dedication inscription to the anatomist and surgeon Allan Burns (18^th September 1781- 22^nd June 1813). The watch was presented to Burns on 29^th April 1807 by his first class at Glasgow where he was a lecturer on anatomy. He was clearly an inspirational figure and was only 25 years old at the time of the watch’s presentation. Burns died young just a few years later, but not before the publication of his works: “Observations on Diseases of the Heart” and “Observations on the Surgical Anatomy of the Head and Neck” which were published in 1809 and 1812 respectively – the latter work provides a brief but interesting biography.

Although the movement is signed by David Read of Glasgow, (recorded Hutcheson St., Glasgow, 1805-1818) its style and finishing suggest Read ordered it from the Lancashire trade. Indeed, the cases are hallmarked for Chester where many Liverpudlian case makers marked their wares.