Triple-cased watch

Firm of Clarke & Dunster

ca. 1720 · Outer case: brass and shagreen, piqué; middle case: gold; dial: white enamel; movement: gilded brass and steel with silver dust cover · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This highly elaborate triple-case gold watch is a supreme example of the Anglo-Dutch firm Clarke and Dunster, a partnership between Christopher Clarke and Roger Dunster, active in Amsterdam and London from 1703 to about 1725-1730. This watches most outstanding feature is a finely chased gold bas-relief showing Apollo with his lyre enthroned in a temple. Three female figures appear to introduce him to a man in an 18th century robe, possibly a dignitary for whom this watch was made. Four individual portraits surrounding the main scene represent the four seasons. The iconography of Apollo, the Sun God, and the Four Seasons was particularly fashionable between 1660s and 1750s.

Artist

Firm of Clarke & Dunster

Date

ca. 1720

Medium

Outer case: brass and shagreen, piqué; middle case: gold; dial: white enamel; movement: gilded brass and steel with silver dust cover

Culture

British, London

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Henry J. Landau, Jennifer Landau-Carter, and Zeph Landau, in memory of Julia Weill Landau and Carola Hirsch Weill, 2019