Ishmael Parbury Ishmael Parbury (sometimes spelled Ishmail) was one of the finest gold chasers (goldsmiths) of his time.[1] He was born in London around 1697, studied at Christ’s Hospital and gained his freedom in the Society of the Apothecaries in 1723. He began working as a gold chaser for clock and watchmaker George Graham by 1724 and spent the entirety of his accomplished career in London. An example of Parbury’s fine work is featured on Clocktime. His magnificent repoussé scene can be admired on the outer surface of the case of George Graham’s Gold Cylinder Watch, dated 1733.[2] The scene incorporates the figures of Britannia and Father Time, New World-themed elements and highly detailed horological and astronomical instruments; these elements are all skilfully embossed in thin gold. It has been interpreted as an allegory for the British endeavour to find the solution to the problem of determining longitude at sea. You can read about every detail of the design, and how it may be interpreted here. Parbury was one of the few casemakers who signed his work, and his hallmark as well as his signature, Parbury, appear on the outer case of Graham’s watch. Around eighteen other signed works by Parbury survive, and all but one of them are chased gold watch cases. The gold-chased cover of a snuff box known as the Parbury plaque at the British Museum (Museum number 1997,0707.1) is the exception. The plaque (or cover) is dated 1745 and was made in London. The repoussé scene depicts the marriage of Alexander and Roxana in high relief, based on a tapestry cartoon of 1684–1686 by Antoine Coypel. It is signed by Parbury in the lower-right corner, I Parbury Londini Fec. 1745. It was not until the 19th century that the Parbury plaque was attached to the 19th century snuff box shown in the image on this page. The antiquarian George Vertue (a contemporary of Parbury) spoke at his eulogy and mentions the Parbury plaque in his notebooks: Mr Ishmael Parberry. Gold Chaser of watches &c. of Salisbury Court. - deceasd. in Septbr. 1746. … was a man in his art of great excellency in the neatness and finishing correctness of his works, which gaind him great esteem. above any other Englishman and by that means he obtained the highest prices for his works. one peeice or rather master pece, being top of a gold snuff box, he kept till his death (dated 1745) with his name to it, was sold at the sale of his collections.[3] Parbury’s collections sold for £258 pounds. The Parbury plaque is also mentioned in the Sale Catalogue of the Entire Collection of that Ingenious Artist Mr Ishmael Parbury; the item was sold at auction by ‘Mr Cock, 17th and 18th December 1746, lot. 146’ after Parbury’s death. As for other surviving watches with gold chased watch cases by Parbury, most are in private collection and the whereabouts of many of these are unknown.[4] Three of Parbury’s watch cases are in museums. The first of these, an undated quarter repeating watch made by Daniel Quare and Stephen Horseman with an outer repoussé gold case chased by Parbury, is at the British Museum (Museum number 1958,1201.253). The repoussé design on the back of the outer case features the figures of Rinaldo and Armida, taken from a painting by Louis de Silvestre.[5] The maker’s mark and Parbury’s mark are also engraved on the outer case. The second example of Parbury’s work, also at the British Museum, is another quarter repeating cylinder watch by Graham with a paired outer case featuring gold chasing by Parbury (Museum number 1912,1107.1).[6] Although Parbury’s signature appears on the outer case, there is no hallmark to date his work more specifically that the production date of 1727 on the watch. The outer case has a repoussé scene with the figure of Apollo playing a lyre. The third known Parbury watch case is at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford. Currently, no information is available online. When Parbury died his estate was sold in a Sale Catalogue of the Entire Collection of that Ingenious Artist Mr Ishmael Parbury … sold at auction by Mr Cock, 17th and 18th December 1746. Parbury was evidently a close friend of the other leading chaser of the time, the Swiss artist and enameller George Michael Moser, who acted as his executor. The sale of his collection was held by Cock on 17/18 December 1746. A copy of the catalogue is in the Department of Prints & Drawings of the British Museum. End Notes [1] Edgcumbe 2000, 133–134. [2] Brusa 1978, fig. 477 and 478; Carter 2021, 216–219; Edgcumbe 2000, 133–134, fig 130a-e; Taylor et al. 2019, 29, Exhibit No. 4:6. [3] Vertue Notebooks 1933-1934, 62 and 134. [4] For watch cases with chasing by Parbury on watches by Charles Clay, see Edgcumbe 2000, 139–140. [5] Edgcumbe 2000, 141. [6] Thompson 2008, 70–71. References Brusa, G. 1978. L’arte dell’orloge*ia in Busto Arsizio. Carter, J. 2021. The John C Taylor Collection: Part I (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Edgcumbe, R.. 2000. The Art of the Gold Chaser. London: Oxford University Press. Taylor, J. C. and K. Leith (with contributions by T. Phillipson). 2019. The Luxury of Time: Clocks from 1550–1750. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Thompson, D. 2008. The History of Watches (1st edition). London: Abbeville Press. Vertue, G. 1933–1934. ‘Vertue Note Books: Volume III’ in The Volume of the Walpole Society 22. London: The Walpole Society. Further Reading Snowman, K. A. 1990. Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe (Revised edition). Woodbridge: Antique Collectors Club. Various. 1997. British Museum Magazine, the Journal of the British Museum Society Winter: 20.