The 'Kylin' clock

Chinese and Japanese works of art were not always left untouched once they arrived in Europe. In some cases they were combined with European pieces as craftsmen and collectors sought to express several fashionable art historical traditions in a single object. This extraordinary item combines pieces of Asian porcelain with a French clock. Two large Chinese turquoise lions or 'dogs of Fo' (often wrongly referred to as 'kylins', a Chinese mythical beast) support a Chinese bowl, whose bottom has been replaced with a clock dial. Above the dial is a Japanese porcelain Hotei (god of luck) seated between two boys. The clock was displayed in the Saloon at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton by the future George IV (1762–1830) and in the reign of Queen Victoria given pride of place on the elaborate marble chimneypiece in the Chinese Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace.