This George III ormolu mounted white marble and biscuit porcelain clock by royal clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy was made around 1791. One of the richest and most sophisticated examples of Vulliamy’s known work is described by Christie’s as a tour de force of English Neo-Classical design. From the collection of Mrs. Henry Ford II, who died aged 80 last year, it comes up at Christie’s in New York on March 30. The porcelain figures are by John Deare, the pedestal by Thomas Brownley and it is estimated at $250,000-$400,000. The collection of Kathleen Ford is to be offered at two sales in New York and London. Contents from the Palm Beach home come up in New York while contents from her mansion flat at Eaton Square, London and residence at Turville Grange in Oxfordshire come to auction on April 15. She married Henry Ford II (1917-1987) in 1980 and was his third wife while he was her second husband.
UPDATE: The New York sale totalled $4.7 million. The top lot was a pair of c1770 lacquer cabinets attributed to Joseph Baumhauer which made $846,000 over a top estimate of $600,000. The clock was unsold.