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Clock
Designed and manufactured by Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy
(died 1854)
Ormolu, bronze and black slate
12 in (33.5 cm) x 9 1/4 in (23 cm) x 4 3/4 in (12.5 cm)
English, 1808
MARKED:
Vulliamy / London / No. 432.
PROVENANCE:
Purchased from Vulliamy by Dr Vaughan in 1808; [ ...]; anonymous sale, Christie’s South Kensington, 26 October 1990, lot 67, bt H. Blairman & Sons Ltd, from whom acquired by Sarofim Collection.
LITERATURE:
Jean Humbert et al., Egyptomania, Exh. Cat., Paris, 1994, no.145, p.246-7, for same model in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Described as 'An Egyptian Ornamental Clock’, this clock was purchased in February 1808 by Dr Vaughan and corresponded to an earlier clock, bearing the number 414, that Vulliamy had supplied to a Mr Laurell or Lansell in December 1807.
The third version, numbered 438, was purchased for 50 Guineas on 5 June 1812 by Princess Mary (d. 1857), daughter of King George III. Vulliamy's account books for number 438 reveal that while Barnett was responsible for the decorative motifs and Seagrave the gilding, the serpent dial was supplied by Houle.
The manufacturing costs for this 'Egyptian ornamental clock' appear in the Vulliamy MSS, preserved by the British Horological Institute, no. 432.
Private Collection
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