Following on from its great success hosting the Only Watch charity auction, Antiquorum has announced its upcoming "Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces" sale, which will be held on Sunday, October 23 at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong led by an antique timepiece which belonged to the Qing dynasty Chinese Emperor Qianlong.
The preview will be held at Antiquorum Auctioneers' showroom in Hong Kong from Thursday, October 20 to Saturday, October 22. Collectors and horological enthusiasts can look forward to an exciting autumn sale encompassing 384 carefully selected timepieces.
The highlight of the auction is "La Colère d'Achille", an ivory fan featuring nine five-clawed dragons set with a watch (Lot 379), which was a gift given to the Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) of the Qing Dynasty by George III of the United Kingdom.
The unique and magnificent fan was attributed to James Cox, the master of luxurious jewellery and timepieces in England.
 Art and function together: the ivory fan watch (Click to enlarge) |
The 20K gold, silver, ivory, enamel, diamond, ruby, emerald and agate set fan with a watch was made circa late 18 century, and was given by the Ambassador of England to the Emperor Qianlong as a gift to celebrate his 80th birthday in 1792.
The ivory fan, when open and closed, forms a total of nine five-clawed flying dragons, which embodies the supreme sovereignty of the Chinese Emperor.
A small watch made of gold and blue enamel appears at the end of the fan handle, and there is also a compartment for storage.
The paper leaf is painted with a scene adapted from a painting of a quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in the Trojan War. The fan was sold to Lord Sandberg at 250,000CHF (equivalent today to $271,000) in the Antiquorum October 1984 Geneva auction.
It is extraordinary the variety that can be found in timepiece designs. We talked on our blog about mystery clocks (which seem to work without a mechanism). The opposite to these are skeletonised watches where the mechanism is always visible. We have a skeletonised Grieb and Benzinger fine watch for sale.
Another highlight of the sale that should not be overlooked is "The Theatre", a rare 18K yellow gold and enamel quarter-repeating musical watch with two erotic automaton scenes.
This antique watch is undoubtedly the work of the exceptional Geneva watchmaker Henry Capt, which is one of the eight known examples made by the master, made circa 1815. It was first sold at Antiquorum's "The Private Collection of Theodor Beyer" auction held in Zurich, Switzerland in November, 2003.
