Watch

James Vautrollier

ca. 1620–25 · Case: silver, partly gilded, and gilded brass; Movement: gilded brass and steel, partly blued · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

James Vautrollier was one of sixteen craftsmen who in 1622 petitioned King James I for a charter to form a company of clockmakers in London. The decorative border around the edge of the back plate of the movement is typical of English watches of the earlier part of the seventeenth century. Other features typical of the period are the pinning of the decorative cock for the balance to a tenon projecting from the plate, and the steel ratchet and click device that is used to regulate the mainspring. The case is engraved with a scene of the Adoration of the Magi.

Artist

James Vautrollier

Date

ca. 1620–25

Medium

Case: silver, partly gilded, and gilded brass; Movement: gilded brass and steel, partly blued

Culture

British, London

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917