A Beijing enamel ground metal clock face


Qianlong four-character mark and of the period Centered by a yellow ground roundel of lotus flowers and water plants, perforated by five holes and a central elongated aperture to fit the dials and hands, encircled by a register of Roman and Arabic numerals on a white colored ground, the reverse covered in turquoise enamels and four prongs for mounting to a clock body.7 5/8 (19.3cm) diameter
|This clock face was likely used in a timepiece similar to several found in the Beijing Palace Museum collection. For one example (gu 183172), see Fung Ming-chu, Guan Xueling et al: Shi Quan Qianlong: Qing Gaozong de Yishu Pinwei [The All Complete Qianlong: the Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong] (Taipei: National Palace Museum, 2013), 218, II-3.26. That zitan tower clock was able to chime on the hour and the quarter hour, and notably had apertures for the hour hand, second hand and various dials in identical positions as those cast on the present lot. Guan further notes that the multi-color enameling like that found in the present lot involved a much more complicated and time-consuming production process, typical for clocks produced by the domestic clock-making division of the Qing court, as opposed to imported clocks from Europe. For a more complete explanation of the varied sources of clocks in the imperial collection both domestic and imported, see Liu Lu (et al.), Gugong Bowuyuan Cang Wenwu Zhenpin Quanji 58: Qing Gong Xiyang Yiqi [The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum 58: Scientific and Technical Instruments of the Qing Dynasty] (Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 1998), 187. Published there are several additional examples of clock faces with a similar yellow ground floral pattern encircled by white numerals and perforated by similar apertures for clock hardware: ibid catalog no 205, 209, 211, and 213. The author points out that all of these examples with yellow floral faces were made by the Zao Zhong Chu, a special clock making division of the Zao Ban Chu in Beijing, as opposed to clocks produced for the imperial court in Suzhou and Canton. Also interesting is that several of these Beijing-produced clocks were able to address the unique domestic time keeping needs of the traditional gengdian night watch system.