95th Auction
2017/5/6
Lot 111
Markwick Markham & Perigal, London, Movement No. 9895, 45 mm, 80 g, circa 1815
A gold enamel verge pocket watch in a triple case, created for the Ottoman market
Case: 18k gold/polychrome enamel. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, gold screw compensation balance.
The cuvette is engraved with: Converted by T. Martin & Co., 151 Regent Street; the information refers to a gentle modernisation of the movement.
On this occasion the watch was fitted with an English lever escapement - which was state-of-the-art at the time - and a gold screw compensation balance.
The three case of this watch are elaborately worked:
The outer case with curled outer rim, floral engraving, opaque pink-coloured enamel with translucent red champlevé flowers, curled inner rim with opaque blue and translucent red enamelling. The intermediate case - curled outer rim, floral engraving, opaque blue enamel with translucent red champlevé flowers; back with wavy octagonal enamel medallion with a polychrome painting of a bouquet of summer flowers against a blue background. The rim of the inner case is decorated with translucent red flowers on a turquoise-coloured ground. Back with central octagonal medallion with miniature painting in a translucent red enamel frame: bouquet of summer flowers on an engine-turned translucent pink ground. Bezel with curling translucent red and white enamel border, neck with stripes in red and white.
James Markwick & Markwick Markham
James Markwick and his son James were both fine watchmakers and worked in London. The elder was apprenticed on 25 June 1656 to Richard Taylor, and subsequently to Edward Gilpin. He became free of the Clockmakers' Company on 6 August 1666. Six apprentices were bound to him between 1674 and 1699. In 1673 he succeeded the business of Samuel Betts behind the Royal Exchange. Although he held office in the Clockmakers' Company, he was irregular in attendance, ceasing to tend to its affairs after 1700. He worked until at least 1706. His son, James Markwick Jr., became free of the Company in 1692 by patrimony. The younger James Markwick was an eminent maker, Master of the Clockmakers' Company in 1720 and a very early user of jeweled bearings. In later years he was in partnership with his son-in-law Robert Markham, who succeeded him using the trading name of Markwick Markham, which became famous for watches destined for the Turkish market. Not only did this notoriety encourage the appearance of spuriously signed watches, but at the end of the century Markham, or his successor, associated the names of other watchmakers with their own products intended for the East. The makers thus found associated are: Francis Perigal, Peter Upjohn, H. Story, Borrell, John Johnson, Louis Recordon, Dupont. All were reputable watch-makers in their own right, selling other products under their own names.
A gold enamel verge pocket watch in a triple case, created for the Ottoman market
Case: 18k gold/polychrome enamel. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, gold screw compensation balance.
The cuvette is engraved with: Converted by T. Martin & Co., 151 Regent Street; the information refers to a gentle modernisation of the movement.
On this occasion the watch was fitted with an English lever escapement - which was state-of-the-art at the time - and a gold screw compensation balance.
The three case of this watch are elaborately worked:
The outer case with curled outer rim, floral engraving, opaque pink-coloured enamel with translucent red champlevé flowers, curled inner rim with opaque blue and translucent red enamelling. The intermediate case - curled outer rim, floral engraving, opaque blue enamel with translucent red champlevé flowers; back with wavy octagonal enamel medallion with a polychrome painting of a bouquet of summer flowers against a blue background. The rim of the inner case is decorated with translucent red flowers on a turquoise-coloured ground. Back with central octagonal medallion with miniature painting in a translucent red enamel frame: bouquet of summer flowers on an engine-turned translucent pink ground. Bezel with curling translucent red and white enamel border, neck with stripes in red and white.
James Markwick & Markwick Markham
James Markwick and his son James were both fine watchmakers and worked in London. The elder was apprenticed on 25 June 1656 to Richard Taylor, and subsequently to Edward Gilpin. He became free of the Clockmakers' Company on 6 August 1666. Six apprentices were bound to him between 1674 and 1699. In 1673 he succeeded the business of Samuel Betts behind the Royal Exchange. Although he held office in the Clockmakers' Company, he was irregular in attendance, ceasing to tend to its affairs after 1700. He worked until at least 1706. His son, James Markwick Jr., became free of the Company in 1692 by patrimony. The younger James Markwick was an eminent maker, Master of the Clockmakers' Company in 1720 and a very early user of jeweled bearings. In later years he was in partnership with his son-in-law Robert Markham, who succeeded him using the trading name of Markwick Markham, which became famous for watches destined for the Turkish market. Not only did this notoriety encourage the appearance of spuriously signed watches, but at the end of the century Markham, or his successor, associated the names of other watchmakers with their own products intended for the East. The makers thus found associated are: Francis Perigal, Peter Upjohn, H. Story, Borrell, John Johnson, Louis Recordon, Dupont. All were reputable watch-makers in their own right, selling other products under their own names.
Sold
estimated
19.000—25.000 €
Price realized
21.500 €