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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Clock type · Specialist

Chinese Market Clocks

Partially verified

Elaborately decorated clocks and automata made for the Chinese market, largely in England and Switzerland.

Movement & mechanism

  • Spring-driven movements with musical and automaton trains
  • Pearl, enamel and paste-set case decoration
  • Frequently made in pairs

Identification

  • Very rich enamel and paste decoration
  • Automaton and musical work
  • Signatures are frequently those of agents rather than makers

Terminology

  • Sing-song (period term for these export pieces)
  • Automaton
  • Paste setting

Known variations

  • Musical, automaton and combined versions

Collecting notes

Originality decides value and interest: check that movement, dial and case belong together, and prefer honest wear over refinishing. Movement work belongs with a clockmaker; cleaning a dial or case yourself commonly destroys the evidence that dates the clock.

Related photographs

Automaton clock, maker unknown, Germany, c. 1600-1615 - Waddesdon Manor - Buckinghamshire, England - DSC07705
Automaton clock, maker unknown, Germany, c. 1600-1615 - Waddesdon Manor - Buckinghamshire, England - DSC07705 — Daderot, Public domain. Wikimedia Commons file page
Automaton clock in the form of Diana on her chariot, South Germany, probably Augsburg, c. 1610, ebony, gilt bronze, silver, iron, brass - Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York City - DSC07058
Automaton clock in the form of Diana on her chariot, South Germany, probably Augsburg, c. 1610, ebony, gilt bronze, silver, iron, brass - Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York City - DSC07058 — Daderot, Public domain. Wikimedia Commons file page

No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.

Sources & references

  1. Britten, F. J., Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers
  2. Loomes, B., reference works on British clockmakers (edition-dependent)
  3. Museum catalogue descriptions of comparable examples

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.