Description
Agate panels framed by elaborate rococo cage-work form the body of this miniature cabinet, which contains a complex musical mechanism and supports a clock. Although the cabinet is unsigned, it is undoubtedly the work of the noted London goldsmith and entrepreneur James Cox, many of whose creations were destined for Eastern markets. The clock was made by James Hagger, probably at an earlier date. This particular example is said to have belonged to the dowager empress of Russia, Maria Feodorovna (1847-1928). Fabergé produced a copy of this clock in silver and nephrite, now in the collection of the Hillwood Museum and Gardens, Washington D.C.
The velvet-lined leather box for this clock, which the Walters also owns, shows that it was likely originally crowned by a jeweled finial that was later replaced with the small flame that now tops the piece.





Cabinet Clock with Musical Movement
Conservation
Examined in preparation for up-coming exhibition/re-installation.
Cleaned and repaired in preparation for exhibition.
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
Examination | Examined | |
3/17/1959 | Treatment | cleaned |
7/24/1986 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
9/15/1986 | Treatment | cleaned; loss compensation; repaired |
4/06/1988 | Examination | examined for condition |
5/13/1994 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
7/22/2004 | Treatment | cleaned |
10/05/2007 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
7/15/2015 | Treatment | Cleaned, repaired |
3/08/2016 | Examination | Examined. |
Exhibitions
- Age of Elegance: The Rococo and its Effects. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1959.
- Objects of Vertu: Precious Works of the Eighteenth Century. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984.
- Carl Fabergé in Context. Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munchen. 1986-1987.
- Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons, and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. 2015-2016.
Provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1931, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Inscriptions
[Mark] Engraved on top of clock: N.95
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters
Creators
- James Cox (English, active ca. 1760-1788) (Artist)
- James Hagger (British, active 1694-1735) (Clockmaker)
Period
ca. 1765Medium
gold, agate, copper and copper alloy, silver, steel, enamel, glass, emeralds (?), pearls, and silk(Timepieces, Clocks & Watches)
Accession Number
58.238Measurements
H: 9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm)Geographies
- United Kingdom, England (Place of Origin)