Not currently on display at the V&A

Watch and Pair Case

early 18th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Albrecht, Georg (watchmaker)
Place of origin
Silesia (made)

Gold watch and pair case, signed 'Georg Albrecht/Zillichau', with the Royal Arms of King George I of England on a roundel on the back


Object details

Categories
Clocks & Watches
Metalwork
Royalty
Object type
Watch and pair case
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Watch
  • Pair Case
Materials and techniques
gold
Brief description
Gold watch and pair case, signed 'Georg Albrecht/Zillichau', with the Royal Arms of King George I of England on a roundel on the back, Poland, early 18th century
Physical description
Gold watch and pair case, signed 'Georg Albrecht/Zillichau', with the Royal Arms of King George I of England on a roundel on the back
Marks and inscriptions
signed 'Georg Albrecht/Zillichau' (Maker's signature)
Object history
Purchased at the auction by Christie's of the collection of Ralph Bernal (1783-1854), politician and art collector, in 1855. He held a seat in the House of Commons from 1815-52. After his death the Society of Arts proposed without success that the Government should buy his entire collection for the Museum of Ornamental Art then at Marlborough House which became the future South Kensington Museum, now the Victoria and Albert Museum. 730 lots were acquired for Marlborough House (Anthony Burton, Vision & Accident, V&A Publications, 1999, p. 34).

After his father's death in 1811, Bernal inherited three large sugar estates and over 500 enslaved people in Jamaica. 'In 1835 and 1836 he was awarded compensation for slave ownership amounting to over £11,450' (Helen Davies, Ralph Bernal, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, version dated 11 March 2021).
Production
Cylkowa
Subject depicted
Escutcheons (Coats of Arms)
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
2358:1&:2-1855

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Record createdJuly 1, 2005
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O113787/watch-and-pair-albrecht-georg/
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