Pair-case automaton watch

James Cox

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

When activated, the eight rosettes, or stars, spin within the rotating frame on the dial of this watch, which is pavé-set with paste jewels. A number of these automata survive; they were incorporated into objects probably intended for export to both China and India, but they may also have been made for English patrons. A large number of items intended for export were included in Cox’s lottery of 1773, and more were auctioned in London after he declared bankruptcy in 1778, so some of these amusing “toys” may have found their way into European possession by happenstance.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art