The watch in a porcelain case by the best French makers. It was made in the middle of the XIX century. The porcelain case of the "Second Empire" style is decorated with a gilded relief ornament, vegetative curls, filigree tiaras, painting in the form of bouquets of roses, bluebells and wild roses. The watch has been purchased by the Museum from a private person in 1981.
This is one of the main neostyles, opening a period of eclecticism in the European art of the second half of the XIX century. It is characterized by pomp and decoration. It joined elements of the architecture of the late Italian Renaissance and the Baroque, Rococo and Empire. It is considered as Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie style. The building of The Palais Garnier in Paris, built by Charles Garnier in 1860-1875, became the architectural symbol of the "Second Empire style." The mighty colonnade coexisted with an abundance of decorative sculptures, polychrome ornamentation and the fanciful dome. When Empress Eugenie, struck by its beauty, asked the architect: "What kind of style?", Garnier answered without hesitation: "This is Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie style." One of the symbols of the "Second Empire" style was the famous Statue of Liberty.
Porcelain is a fine and melodic material. People enjoy it for centuries. They were the Chinese craftsmen who were the first to make porcelain around the IV-VI centuries. And it was Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant, who brought the first news of the porcelain to Europe in the XIII century. The objects of unprecedented material became valued its weight in gold. The mystery of porcelain production was carefully kept by cunning Chinese. In China there was a rule Ц if anybody ever gives foreigners the secret of producing porcelain, his head will be cut off. Nevertheless the Europeans discovered the secret of the porcelain, and the first plant for its production appeared in Europe in 1710. In Russia porcelain goods began to be produced since 1744. Initially products made of porcelain were cups for tea, various dishes, but eventually people began to do porcelain benches, aquariums, candlesticks, chandeliers, watch cases. Even now the products made of this material are highly appreciated and admired!