William Carpenter, London, Movement No. 4580, 87 mm, 459 g, circa 1795

A very fine coach clock with regulator dial and alarm for the Chinese market
Case: brass, gilt, florally engraved bezel, on the back side engraved floral decoration to the band, engraved flower head to the centre, lever to set alarm or silence, large lateral hinge, rear bell. Dial: enamel, outer Arabic minutes, eccentric hour chapter ring with radial Roman numerals at "12", subsidiary chapter ring for auxiliary seconds at "4", subsidiary chapter ring with Arabic numerals for alarm at "8", arrow-shaped hands. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, firegilt, signed, screwed on florally engraved ornaments, chain/fusee, additional barrel for alarm, verge escapement, three-arm steel balance, very finely florally engraved and pierced balance cock with mascaron.

William Carpenter (1770-1805)
William Carpenter produced fine watches and automata for the Chinese market; he is most famous for his extravagant musical automata. A number of them are held by the Palace Museum of Peking in China.