Imperial Alabaster Automaton 'Fishing Boy and His Catch'

An exquisite and extremely rare example of an Imperial Chinese automaton with Imperial porcelain base. The hybrid in the late 18th century of Chinese decorative craftsmanship and English-made movements was the bridge to Chinese-made automaton clocks in the 19th century.

The charming figure has an alabaster head carved and painted with a sweet expression, with bright eyes and a broad smile below hair worn in two topknots tied with red ribbons. The carved wood body is dressed in a short orange silk jacket with gold braid on the sleeves and fastened at the neck and side with a small gilt-bronze button, over a pair of beige silk pants, and an embroidered shoe, the figure balanced on one knee while holding a bamboo fishing pole in his right hand and a catch basket in his left, the bamboo pole suspending a fish carved in mother of pearl and another in pearl. The figure is activated by turning a flat circular key at the back which winds the clockwork mechanism and a gilt-bronze knob activates the movement with a counter-clockwise turn, the boy raises and lowers his proper right arm in a gesture of casting his bamboo fishing pole in the gurgling stream below, upon which fish are caught and deftly placed in the basket

The rectangular Canton enamel base is decorated in a pale famille-rose palette and inset with jewel-like transparent paste gems, finely painted to simulate the rocky banks of a river, the small paste gems suggesting the dappled light reflecting from the rushing water, all above an ornate ormolu base with archaistic scroll balustrade, raised on bracket feet, the shaped aprons finely cast with floral scroll

The English-made movement, late 18th century, is housed in the base accessed by a large removable panel at the back.