Clock with Vincennes porcelain, mounted in ormolu, possibly late 18th century

Bequeathed by John Jones

This clock was among a large collection of furniture, porcelain, metalwork, paintings and books owned by the tailor and businessman John Jones, and kept in cramped conditions at his house at 95, Piccadilly. In his will of 4 December 1879 and in a codicil of 22 January 1880, Jones bequeathed the objects to the South Kensington Museum, and they were transferred there after his death in 1882. The Handbook to the Jones bequest, published in 1883, marvels at the value of the gift, which seems still not to have been displayed to best advantage: 'Probably a large majority of those who visit the Jones collection will be indisposed to believe ... that so limited a space as three not large galleries in the Museum can contain furniture and decorative arts worth no less than a quarter of a million of money'. Jones' principal collecting interests lay in French eighteenth-century furniture and decorative arts, of which this clock is an example, as well as reflecting the late-Victorian love of rich, gilded surfaces and historical artistic styles. Possibly listed in the Drawing Room, 95 Piccadilly, on the Bonheur du Jour during John Jones's lifetime. Acquired by John Jones before 1882; it is one of sixteen clocks he bequeathed to this museum. It was said to have been made for Queen Marie Antoinette and dated about 1780 when acquired. It is now thought to date from 1870.

A vase-shaped Sèvres porcelain table clock with ormolu stand and foliate, female and floral mounts in the classical revival style, French, circa 1870 bequeathed by John Jones who bought the clock believing that it had been made in the late 18th century for Queen Marie Antoinette.

999-1882