Imperial-Style Chinese “Double-Gourd” Lyre Clock with Swinging Dial

The clock swings within an ormolu double-gourd framework embellished with brilliant turquoise glass square-cut paste gems within an inner beaded border and an outer leafy border. The lower circular section contains the clock, suspended from above by a vertical rod, with a bezel of blue, red, yellow, and white oval-cut paste gems. The rod is embellished with a medallion in a floral shape of red and white paste gems. The neck of the double gourd is surmounted by a gilt-metal mount representing an upside-down bat, its intricate stylized wings outstretched below. The whole is raised on a white marble and ormolu base.

The Chinese-made quarter-striking movement is engraved with a “nonsense” signature.

The present style derives from the popular French lyre clocks of the Louis XVI period. A French lyre clock with swinging dial may be seen atop an automaton elephant in the Palace Museum in Beijing. The lyre form translates comfortably to the Chinese double-gourd design with its potent symbolism of fertility and good fortune. The usual sunburst or mask of the top mount of French lyre clocks is replaced with the upside-down bat with the specific symbolic meaning signifying that “blessings have arrived.”

Chinese lyre-inspired double-gourd clocks are extremely rare. They likely belonged to a group of clocks ordered by one of the Guangdong officials and given as tribute to the Qianlong Emperor.