Lot 319

Sir John Bennett

Stille

An impressive, heavy London silver hunting case pocket watch with minute repeater and Japonisme decoration

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This silver hunter watch dating from the second half of the 19th century, is exquisitely decorated and finished. The beautiful Japonism ornamentation is inspired by Japanese multi-coloured woodblock prints, which became popular in Europe in the second half of the 19th century and inspired the Impressionists in particular. The spring lid shows water lilies and cranes at a lakeside. A cartouche with Japanese characters to the left translates as "silence". The caseback is decorated with a Japanese thatched cottage under a blooming cherry tree by a lilly pond with geese in the front and migrant birds in the sky. The different finishing techniques create a beautiful haptic feel.

Sir John Bennett (1814-1897) came from a watchmaking family and he and his brother took over the family workshop when their father died early. Bennett started his own workshop in 1847 in Cheapside; he was a clever and marketing oriented businessman, who caught the eye of the public during the Great Exhibition of 1851, when he booked the title page of the exhibition catalogue as well as stand no. 1. His shop windows were decorated with pocket watches and modern advertising slogans and when the "Big Ben" clock was installed in 1860, Bennett build a similar clock with an automaton and presented it in his window. The display attracted so many people that the police hat to control the traffic around his shop. The clock was later bought by Henry Ford and is still displayed in the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Charles Dickens was also one of Bennett's customers. John Bennett was knighted by Queen Victoria in St. Paul's Cathedral in 1871; he was also elected Sheriff of London at a later date.