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Automaton clock
William Carpenter - Enlarge image
Automaton clock
- Place of origin:
London, England (made)
- Date:
ca. 1780 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
William Carpenter (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Clock case, mechanised figures and bells of gilt brass, with enamelled and glass paste decoration
- Credit Line:
Lt. Col. G. B. Croft-Lyons Bequest
- Museum number:
M.1108-1926
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 118a, case 8
Object Type
This musical clock by William Carpenter is typical of the kind of elaborate exotic time-piece made in London for export to the East in the late 18th century. Turkey, China and India were the principal destinations for these clocks.
Ownership & Use
The measurement of time was only one small feature of these clocks. This clock offered a choice of six tunes - two dances, two jigs, a song and a march. The figures dressed in 18th-century costume mounted on the clock, hold bells. The standing figures chime the quarters and strike the hours; the seated figures play the tunes on bells below their feet. These clocks were eagerly bought by Eastern rulers and merchants and were thought of as interesting toys. Examples can still be found in Indian, Turkish and Chinese palace museums.
Design
The area below the dial is pierced with the design of a palace with two storeys. The lower classical arcade is painted to show a landscape in the background. The upper storey shows scenes from a masked ball set in a ball-room. As the music plays, rows of costumed figures move from left to right. It has been suggested that this clock was made for an Indian client.
The Maker
William Carpenter worked in London's Soho district from about 1770 to 1805. He specialised in the manufacture of musical clocks and automata of this type.
