As an unrecorded example of Moser's work the importance of this watch cannot be overstated. The enamel panel is the most complex and highly populated of all of Moser's ?en grisaille? enamels used in watch cases as-well-as the overall decoration being an important example of the transition in the applied arts from rococo to neoclassical design, for which Moser was largely responsible in England. The depiction of ?Apollo and the Four Seasons? is one that Moser often chose for his polychrome enameled rococo cases, however this is the only known example of this scene in ?en grisaille? enamel. This is likely due to the fact that a monochrome depiction would have been incredibly difficult to execute in the detail Moser was famous for on such a small space, in fact no other ?en grisaille? enamel panel on a pocket watch is known with six figures. By the time of this watch?s manufacture Ellicott's orders accounted for 40 percent of Moser's output, with the majority being for repeating watches. In fact Ellicott No. 6792 is also a repeating watch with case decorated by Moser. In that watch the case is chased with a depiction of ?Erminia and the Shepherds?; like the present watch the inner case was by Thomas Layton and the outer with a partial mark ?M?, most likely the same combination of case makers as in the present lot. Fortunately this watch has the distinctive blue counter enamel typical of Moser?s work at this period, allowing us to see the maker?s mark clearly, i.e. ?MR? for Mary Reasey thus giving further evidence that in many cases at this period inner and outer cases were not made by the same case maker as the techniques and tooling required to make the inner and outer cases were slightly different. The decoration of the case is also interesting in that the decoration of the present lot shows the transition in Moser's style from Rococo to neoclassical with the outer case having a very complex neoclassical depiction of ?Apollo and the Four Seasons? combined with a border comprising thin rococo scrolls with neoclassical ribbons, the inner case remains pure rococo. Interestingly this is also true of Ellicott No.6792. It would appear that Ellicott ordered a small group of cases for repeating watches to be decorated by Moser at exactly the time Moser was experimenting with the Neoclassical style that he became renowned for at the end of his life. Drury a bellmaker working in Soho and whose bells were used by most of the eminent English watchmakers of the second half of the 18th Century due to their unparalleled tonal qualities

Thomas Layton A case maker of repute working on Dean Street, Fetter Lane London, first registered his master mark on 21 July 1762

Mary Reasey A case maker of high regard working on Compton Street, Soho, London, first registered her master mark on 2 March 1773.

George Michael Moser (1706 ?1783) On January 30, 1783, the ?Gentleman?s Magazine? reported that Moser ?was followed to his grave in grand funeral pomp by all the capital artists, Sir Joshua Reynolds at their head as chief mourner, Sir William Chambers, etc. Ten mourning coaches, besides two gentlemen?s coaches, were in the procession?. In his obituary, published the same day, Reynolds said that as a gold chaser Moser ?has always been considered as holding the first rank? and as the first Keeper of the Royal Academy ?he possessed a universal knowledge in all branches of painting and sculpture which perfectly qualified him for the place that he held?. Reynolds considered Moser the ?Father of the present race of Artists,? and said: ?Few have passed a more inoffensive or perhaps more happy life; if happiness or the enjoyment of life consists in having the mind always occupied, always intent upon some useful art?? (Malone, l xxvi n). Moser worked as a chaser, enameller, medalist and designer not only for watchcases and gold boxes but for such things as candlesticks. He contributed to the decoration of the Rotunda at Vauxhall Gardens. Born in Schaffhausen on January 17, 1706, he learned chasing and gilding from his father Michael, a coppersmith. He moved to Geneva in 1725 and then to London in 1726. By the early 1730?s Moser appears to have started to work for John Valentine Haidt, goldsmith and ?Watch Chaser?. Moser began what was to be a life-long course of study with him which was, according to the diary of Joseph Farington, ?a little Academy for drawing from a living model?. By 1737 Moser was working from his own address, Craven Buildings off Drury Lane, and his reputation was soon firmly established. He was at the vanguard of the revival of interest for enamel watchcases in the early 1750?s. He was introduced to royal patronage by Lord Bute and, among other works for the royal family, designed the great seal of George III. For Queen Charlotte he painted enamel portraits of the royal children. Moser continued to work at least until the late 1770?s, and was active for the Royal Academy until the end of his life. His association with Thomas Mudge began early in both their careers. Mudge?s watch number 22 has an inner case hallmarked for 1738-39 and has the earliest recorded signed repoussé scene by Moser, while the last known association is a watch by Mudge and his partner Dutton, number 1062, from about 1775. There are approximately twenty surviving enamel cases signed by Moser, of which only two or three are after Sir Joshua Reynolds. One of these is of a portrait of Lady Caroline Spencer, wife of the fourth Duke of Marlborough, and another is, of course, Hope Nursing Love.

John Ellicott (1706-1772). The elder John Ellicott was apprenticed to John Waters in 1687. Free of the Clockmakers' Company in 1696, he taught at least four apprentices. Elected to the Court of Assistants in 1726, he served as Warden from 1731 until his death in 1733. He resided in the parish of All Hallows, London Wall. Ellicott was an excellent craftsman; one movement known by him, dating from shortly after 1700, is for a very thin watch measuring only 1/5 inch between the plates. Such watches are now extremely rare, but a few are known to have been made by Quare. Another watch by Ellicott has a very early example of a center-seconds hand. He often concealed his name under the cock and balance. The most eminent member of the family, however, was his son, also named John Ellicott, born in 1706. The second Ellicott set up shop around 1728 in Sweeting's Alley, near the Royal Exchange. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1738, being recommended by Sir Hans Sloane, Martin Folkes, John Senex, the celebrated globe maker, and John Hadley, the astronomer. At meetings of the Royal Society, he became acquainted with James Ferguson, who afterwards visited Ellicott's home in St. John's Hackney, where an observatory was set up and scientific experiments were made. Ellicott was the inventor of a compensation pendulum in which the bob rests on the longer ends of two levers, of which the shorter ends are depressed by the superior expansion of a brass bar attached to the pendulum rod. It tended to operate in jerks and was not widely used. Ellicott's production was distinguished by excellent workmanship. He paid great attention to the cylinder escapement, and did much to promote its use. He appears to have adopted it only two or three years after its improvement by Graham. In some of his later watches, the cylinders were of ruby. His more costly watches were lavishly decorated, with repoussé cases and dials enameled on gold. Ellicott was on the Council of the Royal Society for three years and read several papers before the Society. They included one on the "Influence which two Pendulum Clocks were observed to have on each other". John Ellicott seems to have used one series of numbers for his watches. An early number, 123, dates from 1728, about the time he set up in Sweeting's Alley. The last known example, bearing the signature "John Ellicott London", is No. 4315. It dates from 1760, after which time the signature became "Ellicott" and later "John Ellicott & Son". The series was continued after Ellicott?s death; the Guildhall Museum of London has a watch with the number 8319. Ellicott designed several public clocks, among them that of the London Hospital, and was appointed Clockmaker to the King. He died in 1772, and was succeeded by his eldest son Edward, who had been in partnership with him since about 1760. Edward Ellicott died in his home in Great Queen Street in 1791. The business was carried on in turn by his son Edward, who was elected Master of the Clockmakers' Company in 1834. Though brought up as a watchmaker, he had little liking for the business and left the conduct of it in great measure to others. From Edward Ellicott & Sons, the name of the firm was changed to Ellicott & Taylor in 1811, and to Ellicott & Smith in 1830. After the destruction of Sweeting's Alley, Ellicott & Smith removed to 27, Lombard Street, and remained there until 1842.