Page 47 - Bonhams May 11th 2017 London Fine Chinese Art
P. 47
The clock maker of the present lot, Crosnier, is listed as working in 133 (detail reverse)
Paris 1860-1873.
During the reign of the Qianlong emperor there was a fascination with
exotic European clocks at court, which continued well into the 19th
century. In the 18th century, the taste at court seems to have been
for predominantly English clocks, but by the late 19th century tastes
shifted to French clocks. See examples of 19th/early 20th century
French clocks from the Qing court collection, illustrated in The Complete
Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Scientific and Technical
Instruments of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1998, pp.221-230.
Although many clocks were simply imported from Europe, Chinese
workshops began to incorporate imported clock movements into their
own cases, as demonstrated by the present lot. A related cloisonné
enamel ‘mythical beast’ incense burner, late Qing dynasty, is illustrated
in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Metal-
bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, p.168, pl.160.
133
