English pair-case watch by William Barnard, Newark-on-Trent, circa 1763. Gilt brass movement (below)
with substantial baluster pillars, pierced cock and adjuster-surround and bright steel balance, signed
Wm Barnard Newark No. 345. Gilt brass cases, the outer one with repoussé design of a man in Roman
military dress placing a crown on the head of a seated woman while three cherubs or amorini (one holding
a sword, another a torch of Hymen) look on. Plain inner case, signed J.A with fleurdelys above. Highly
domed blown glass without bullseye. Convex white enamel dial of transitional form, with roman chapter-ring
and large five-minute numerals but without the traditional circular lines each side of the chapter-ring.
Later pink gold spade hands, perhaps fitted by Scrivener* (? - the name is unclear) of Diss in Norfolk,
whose ragged engraved watch-paper, in the style of 1800-1820, is in the back of the outer case. Stirrup
bow. Repoussé design shows considerable wear. Diameter excluding hinge 52mm.
*Probably identical
to P. Scrivener, recorded by Baillie at Stowmarket (Suffolk), ‘early 19c’. — I am indebted to Mr. Hugh
Watson for additional information about William Barnard.
I have a pet theory about the design on
the outer case. The subject is unusual, showing as it does a man apparently doing homage to a woman,
and this role-reversal suggests that some actual event lies behind the conventional ‘antique’ costumes
and attributes. An obvious candidate is the coronation of Catherine the Great of Russia, which took
place in 1763; the date of the watch must be within a year or two of this (Barnard's recorded dates
are 1740-1785, initially as a clockmaker, and this low-numbered piece must lie near the beginning of
his watchmaking career). In this event the warrior can probably be identified as Grigori Orloff, the
chief architect of the coup by which Catherine overthrew the previous monarch (who happened to be her
husband) in the preceding year, and the cherub with a torch of Hymen (god of connubial bliss) may be
an arch allusion to the fact that Orloff was Catherine's lover and was widely expected to marry her.
(Moreover, an 18th-century source declares that Orloff's regiment wore a Roman-style uniform.) Admittedly
the scene can be explained in other ways - it might be an image of Caesar restoring Cleopatra to the
throne of Egypt - but I remain attached to my own explanation.
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