English Ormolu Watch

Description

In the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum is a black marble clock in the Egyptian style, with a dial and mounts of ormolu and patinated bronze. The clock was made in London (1807–08) by Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy (English, 1780–1854). The Egyptian sun-god Horus and serpents decorating the clock’s base are taken from engravings in Vivant Denon’s Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte, published in London in 1802. Vulliamy produced a number of bronzes in the Egyptian taste, which became popular in Europe and America following Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign of 1798. Our refined watch is based on the original clock’s elegant face.

Produced in cooperation with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Gold overlay case. Leather strap. Quartz movement. Case: 1 3/4'' diam.; strap: adjusts from 6 1/2'' to 8 1/4''L.

Art History

Ormolu refers to decorative objects made of fire-gilded bronze, in particular, those produced by the mercury-gilding process, an exacting technique that reached its height in England and France before 1830.