Centuries of Time: A Private Collection

Centuries of Time: A Private Collection

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 1314. A very rare gilt-metal clock watch with jade bell made for the Japanese market circa 1750, no. 4540.

Thomas Swetman, London

A very rare gilt-metal clock watch with jade bell made for the Japanese market circa 1750, no. 4540

Auction Closed

May 14, 02:23 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 CHF

Lot Details

Description

Thomas Swetman, London


A very rare gilt-metal clock watch with jade bell made for the Japanese market

circa 1750, no. 4540


• Movement: gilded full plate, verge escapement, large decoratively pierced and engraved balance cock with glazed cover, silver regulation plate, fusee and chain, elaborately pierced and engraved pillars, small standing barrel for strike train, single polished steel hammer striking jade bell mounted to inside case back, movement signed and numbered Tho. Swetman, London, 4540

 Dial: gilded, chapter ring with recessed channel for moveable Japanese hour indexes rotating clockwise, decoratively pierced blued steel hand

• Case: gilt-metal case, the sides and back pierced and engraved for sound emission with scrolling flowers and foliage, lacking outer case


diameter 55mm

R. Chadwick, A Voyage Through Time, London: Unicorn, 2020, pp. 36-37.

Although the isolationist Sakoku period (c.1639-1853) limited Japan's interaction with the outside world, international commerce did continue, notably, for example, via the Dutch East India Company who traded with the Japanese on the Island of Dejima. The Dutch often acted as intermediaries for the English and it is likely that this was the means by which the present watch would have entered Japan. Only a very small number of 18th century English watches made for export to Japan are known, and it is possible that they were made as diplomatic gifts. Indeed the rare and unusual incorporation of the Jade bell would certainly suggest that this watch was destined for an important figure within Japanese society.  


Before the introduction of the European calendar on 1 January 1873, clocks made for the Japanese market were usually fitted with movable hours that were adjustable according to temporal time. The Japanese divided the day into two parts, from sunrise to sunset and from sunset to sunrise. Each of these parts was further divided into 6 equal hours. Throughout the year, the length of time between sunrise and sunset and sunset to sunrise changes constantly and hence the length of the 6 equal hours in each becomes longer or shorter depending on the time of the year. In most Japanese clocks, the hour indicators were adjusted by hand, usually on a weekly basis and the same system applies to the movable hours on the dial of this watch.