The imaginative style of decoration known as Chinoiserie reflects a fascination by Westerners with the exoticism of the East. For centuries, exchange between East and West was sporadic, and Cathay China remained more a myth than a reality. But during the seventeenth century, actual contact and trade with the East increased, and such luxury items as silk textiles, lacquer, and porcelain were eagerly sought in the West and later imitated by European artists. Europeans also began to decorate a wide variety of objects in the Chinoiserie style, with motifs culled from anywhere east of the Mediterranean and west exoticism of the East of Japan. As more Europeans visited Asia, greater authenticity became possible, but fantasy proved more appealing. Cartier is known to have decorated their clocks in Chinoisiere style from 1910 onward. In the 1920s Chinese influence on Cartier became very important. Clocks with dragons, Chinese scenes, and Chinese decoration became more and more popular. InIn the Cartier Exhibition held in the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art held in 1996, a section was devoted to Cartier's ?Chinoiserie?. Despite the fact that Cartier's Chinoiserie style is well documented, the variety of their production is so vast that new and previously unrecorded pieces, such as this lot, continue to appear.European Watch & Clockmakers Co., Inc was created by Cartier for movement manufacturing. It was first registered by Cartier in ew York in 1919.