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A mesmerising swan clock made in London around 1790 for a Chinese Emperor will come up at Sotheby’s Treasures sale in London on July 9.  The George III musical automaton tower clock, set with fine guilloche Geneva enamel panels, was at the Imperial Palace at Jehol until the early 20th cnetury. At auction for the first time it is from the collection of a Swiss private collector.  The estimate is £1-1.5 million.

It was acquired in China by the Swiss watch collector Gustave Loup (1876-1961).  He was born in Tientsin and was a fluent mandarin speaker.  In 1938-39 Loup sold it to Jacques-David leCoultre (1875-1948) director general of the watch company LeCoultre & Cie.  His son Roger leCoultre sold it to the father of the present owner in 1953.

Sotheby’s fifth consecutive sale of Treasures will be led by a group of 17 masterworks from the celebrated collections of the Dukes of Northumberland from their historic homes at Alnwick Castle and Syon House.  These lots range from a sublime marble statue of Aphrodite carved in the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius to a remarkable pietre dure inlaid Italian cabinet. The 60 lot sale is expected to realise more than £13 million.

Mario Tavella, Deputy Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe, Private European Collections said: “The collection of the Dukes of Northumberland, formed over 500 years, ranks amongst the finest private art collections in the world and this sale offers an exceptional opportunity to acquire works of the same calibre as pieces preserved in the most important museums. Many other highlights in the sale have remained in the same collections for centuries. Commissioned by the greatest art patrons of the day, including The Duchesse du Berry, The Duke of Argyll, The Grand Dukes of Tuscany and Napoléon, these masterworks meet connoisseurs’ continued demand for the very finest pieces at the top-end of the market.”

Henry Wyndham, Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe said: “The extraordinary depth and richness of the Northumberland Collection is legendary. Charting not only the Percy family’s history over an entire millennium, but also important moments in the artistic development of many schools and nations, the Collection ranks among the finest private art collections in the world. While the pieces to be sold are all of enormous interest and beauty, they have been carefully selected so as to ensure the overall integrity of the Northumberland collection remains intact.”