The automaton clock or ‘Sing Song’ that sold for $1.27m (£907,140) at Fontaine’s in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
The 3ft (91cm) high clock in an elaborately pierced and paste-set metal case copies the clocks made for the Chinese court by London clockmakers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
It features waterfalls of turning glass rods, accompanied by swimming ducks activated on the hour and by a series of paste-set spinning pinwheels, while the finial features red jewelled Chinese characters reading Da Ji (great prosperity).
The triple fusée movement is also signed Cheong Smag and has a six-character mark for Hao Sheng Xiang of Guangdong Province.
The estimate at the sale on May 21 was $500,000-750,000.
