Abbreviations -- List of Illustrations -- Introduction -- A Clockwork Universe -- 1. "Pour la Gloire de Dieu": Clock Making and the Jesuit Mission -- 2. "Ode to a Self-Sounding Bell": The Chinese Interest in Elaborate Clockwork -- 3. "An Asiatick Temple": Western Clockwork and the China Trade -- 4. "To Rival Oriental Splendor": The Aesthetic Milieu -- Conclusion -- Appendixes -- A. The Imperial Workshops -- B. European Clockmakers at the Chinese Court, 1601-1822 -- C. European Makers of Clocks and Automata for the Chinese Market -- Notes -- List of Transliterations -- Bibliography -- Index.

The period from the late sixteenth to the late eighteenth centuries was one of complex change for the Chinese. Europe was eagerly looking to the East with an interest in developing a China market, not just in commercial and diplomatic enterprises but in evangelical ventures as well. The resulting contacts produced significant cultural exchanges and appropriations, as well as misconceptions and stereotypes. Profoundly affected by these interactions were the areas of technology and the decorative arts. Europe became enamored of Chinese style, and a fashion known as chinoiserie permeated the decorative arts. In China, one result of Sino-European contact was the introduction of a new and important technology: the Western mechanical clock. Called in Chinese zimingzhong, or "self-ringing bells," these elaborate clocks were used as status symbols, decorative items, and personal adornments, and only occasionally as timepieces. Most importantly, they were signifiers of cultural power: Europeans, whether missionaries or ambassadors, controlled the introduction of both object and technology, and they used this control to advantage in gaining access to the highest reaches of Chinese society. Through her focus on technology and the decorative arts, Catherine Pagani contributes to an overall understanding of the nature and extent of European influence in late Imperial China and of the complex interaction between these two cultures. This study's interdisciplinary approach will make it of interest to those in the fields of art history, the history of clockwork and of science and technology, Jesuit history, Qing-dynasty history, and Asian studies, as well as to the educated general reader.--Publisher description.

CHAPTER 1: A Clockwork Universe – CHAPTER 2: Celestial Balances : Clockwork and Automata in China Before the Arrival of the Jesuits -- CHAPTER 3: "There Be Dragons": Exploration, Trade, and Evangelisation –- CHAPTER 4: "Pour la Gloire de Dieu": Clockmaking and the Jesuit Mission – CHAPTER 5: "In Praise of the Self-Chiming Clock": The Chinese Interest in Clocks and Automata – CHAPTER 6: "An Asiatick Temple": Western Clockwork and the China Trade – CHAPTER 7: "To Rival Oriental Splendor": The Aesthetic Milieu. APPENDIX A: European Clockmakers at the Chinese Court, 1601-1822. APPENDIX B: European Makers of Clocks and Automata for the Chinese Market.

N.B. see section on clocks for the Chinese court and market, pp. 341-380.

Le nom de Jaquet-Droz, véritable Graal de l’histoire horlogère neuchâteloise, évoque le luxe, la technicité et le génie assimilé à cette région. Mais quelle réalité recouvre ce patronyme tant encensé? Issu d’une récente thèse de doctorat, cet ouvrage porte sur l’histoire de la maison Jaquet-Droz entre 1758 et 1811. Il analyse plus particulièrement la production et la commercialisation d’objets mécaniques de luxe, et s’interroge sur le rôle d’acteurs locaux interconnectés au sein d’un grand espace international de l’horlogerie. Cette approche méthodique et abondamment documentée ouvre ainsi une nouvelle fenêtre sur le monde complexe et passionnant dans lequel évoluent Pierre Jaquet-Droz, son fils Henry-Louis, et leur associé Jean-Frédéric Leschot ; un monde où la fabrication de pièces mécaniques grandioses côtoie la vente d’horloges de seconde main, où la réputation compte autant que l’ingéniosité déployée à survivre dans un contexte hautement concurrentiel, et où l’horlogerie se mêle à l’utilité publique.

The name Jaquet-Droz, the veritable ‘Graal’ of Neuchâtel watchmaking history, evokes luxury, technicality and genius associated with this region. But what is the reality behind this highly acclaimed surname? Based on a recent doctoral thesis, this work focuses on the history of the Jaquet-Droz house between 1758 and 1811. It analyzes in particular the production and marketing of luxury mechanical objects, and examines the role of local players interconnected within a large international watchmaking space. This methodical and abundantly documented approach thus opens a new window on the complex and fascinating world in which Pierre Jaquet-Droz, his son Henry-Louis, and their partner Jean-Frédéric Leschot evolved; a world where the manufacture of grandiose mechanical parts rubbed shoulders with the sale of second-hand clocks, where reputation counted as much as ingenuity and was deployed to survive in a highly competitive context, and where watchmaking mixed with public good.

Local access dig.pdf. [Girardier-Jaquet-Droz.pdf]
Online at Éditions Alphil.
DOI : 10.33055/ALPHIL.03137

Abstract:
During the early to middle Qing period, from 1644-1796, Manchu emperors were keen collectors of so-called ‘strange machines’ from Europe. These included scientific, primarily astronomical, instruments such as globes, armillary spheres or sundials, as well as mechanical clocks, watches and automata. European missionaries and trade delegations introduced these items as gifts to the Qing imperial emperors to further their respective religious and commercial agendas. Manchu rulers initially appreciated clocks and scientific instruments as a means of facilitating the control of time and space, essential in asserting imperial legitimacy. By incorporating European objects into the multicultural identity cultivated at court, they confirmed their status as universal rulers.

This thesis examines the changing role of European objects within the visual and material culture of the Qing courts across the reign periods of emperors Kangxi (r.1662-1722), Yongzheng (r.1723-1735) and Qianlong (r.1736-1796). It will show their transformation from statecraft instruments of high political and ritual significance to decorative domestic collectibles, ultimately rejected as insignificant toys. European clocks and instruments will be investigated not as technical, but as art objects in their own right in an examination of Qing court painting, architecture and decorative arts alongside key examples of the objects themselves.

As patronage and collecting were regarded as an essential imperial duty, requiring high personal involvement from each emperor, the way in which European objects were integrated into Qing court culture varied considerably under each ruler. Kangxi created the foundation for the role of clocks and instruments at court through his engagement with the European sciences, which he employed to fully consolidate his emperorship. Yongzheng maintained, but did not further develop, his father’s legacy with regard to objects from Europe. Qianlong embraced the ‘strange machines’ from Europe, albeit less as tools for statecraft, but as highly decorative collectibles, which appealed to his taste for foreign exotica. Over time, and with flourishing production in the imperial palace workshops, curiosities from Europe became highly integrated into the visual culture developed under each emperor, remaining foreign by nature, but appearing increasingly as familiar court objects, enhanced with symbolic ornaments reflecting the different cultures within the Qing empire, or merged with traditional signifiers of imperial power. This development highlights the way in which the concept of Europe, and its representation through certain types of objects, was actively used to shape the ‘otherness’ that defined the visual identity of the Manchus, thereby promoting the emperors’ legitimacy as universal rulers. Each emperor’s personality and taste influenced the visual expressions of their reign through patronage and collecting habits. In their roles as collectors and patrons, Qing emperors exercised their own form of time and space control over the ‘strange machines’ they owned through manipulation of their context, form and original function.