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A George III ebonised and gilt-brass mounted musical and quarter striking eight day table clock with automata, made for the Chinese export market

JOHN MARRIOTT, LONDON. CIRCA 1785

Details

A George III ebonised and gilt-brass mounted musical and quarter striking eight day table clock with automata, made for the Chinese export market
John Marriott, London. Circa 1785
The case with ormolu mouldings to the plinth and supported on foliate scroll feet, the sides with foliate handles above silk-backed gilt-brass trellis sound frets, all angles mounted with gilt-brass brickwork mouldings, the break arch surmounted by an automaton figure within a gilt-brass pagoda striking the hours and quarters on a large bell mounted within the stylised tiled roof with later centre finial, the 9 in. wide brass dial with delicate floral decoration to the corners, white enamel Roman and Arabic chapter disc with centre seconds and gilt-brass hands, white enamel subsidiary discs to the lower corners for strike/silent and six tune selection (HORNPIPE/DANCE/MINUETT/SONG/DANCE/MARCH), inset automaton with rustic scene to the break arch with parading figures, the triple chain and fusee movement with six ringed pillars and verge escapement, foliate scroll and flowering basket engraving to the back plate signed Marriott/London, the hours striking via articulated link to bell in the pagoda and the quarters striking on the top bell and on a further bell to the back plate, the music playing on eight bells via 3 in. long pin barrel; probably original ratcheted winding key with engraved handle
See p.118 for movement detail
37 in. (94 cm.) high

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Several Marriotts were working in London in the latter part of the 18th Century. Almost certainly this clock was made by John Marriott of Fleet Street, who was apprenticed in 1755 and Free of the Clockmakers' Company from 1768 until his death in 1824. A table clock signed Marriott, London was sold Christie's London, Important Clocks and Marine Chronometers, 6 December 2006, lot 91. An elaborate musical and automaton clock by Marriott is in the Palace Museum, Beijing.

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