By James Cox (English, ca. 1723–1800)
Case: gold, agate, gilt bronze, pearls, and paste jewels; Dial: white enamel with black numerals; Movement: brass and steel; 12 1/2 x 5 5/8 x 4 1/2 in. (31.75 x 14.29 x 11.43 cm)
Gift of Admiral F. R. Harris, in memory of his wife, Dena Sperry Harris, 1946 (46.184a—c)
Bejeweled butterflies and flowers that tremble in the slightest breath of air adorn this whimsical object that plays tunes on a hidden music box and incidentally tells the time. James Cox has been described as more of a toyman than a goldsmith or jeweler and, certainly, more of an entrepreneur than a craftsman. He specialized in lavishly ornamented objects, and during his most active period used the services of an estimated 700 to 1,000 craftsmen with various skills. He exported large numbers of these objects to China and India, and in the 1770s initiated direct trade with Russia, but met with less success there. This miniature secretary is known to have been in the Saint Petersburg collection of Princess Z. M. Youssoupof in 1904, and although it has been said to have been taken from China after the Boxer Rebellion in 1899, it may, in fact, have been imported into Russia long before.
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