A fine large Chinese market. 18th Century English quarter striking clockwatch with centre seconds in paste set gilt metal pair cases. Full plate fire gilt movement with signed and numbered gilt dust cover. Pierced and engraved masked cock set with a large cabochon garnet endstone, silver regulator disc. Plain three arm steel balance, blue steel spiral hairspring. Fusee and chain. Large resting barrel for the petite sonnerie quarter strike, two polished steel hammers striking a bell in the case. White enamel dial with centre seconds, Roman and Arabic numerals, fine gilt beetle and poker hands. Large pierced and engraved inner case with gilt pendant and bow. Two steel levers, one for strike / silent, the other to stop the watch. Pierced and engraved gilt metal outer case, the front bezel set with a row of red and clear paste stones.
An impressive English coachwatch made for the Chinese market. Timothy Williamson, 1769 – 88. A musical centre seconds watch made for the Emperor of Chine is in the Carnegie Museum. A number of clocks by him with music and automaton are held in the Palace Museum, Beijing. See a cylinder watch given to this maker by William Hughes in 1786, item A10442.