Publisher's Synopsis
In the chaos following the 1899-1901 Boxer Rebellion, the Swiss watch-dealer and collector Gustave Loup, Chinese-born and fluent, benefited greatly from the depressed values of the remarkable gold, enamelled and jewelled timepieces that the Swiss had exported into a previously buoyant Chinese market. Living in China, Loup assembled a fabulous collection, but his fortunes later waned, back in Switzerland in the 1930s, and bankruptcy saw the collection broken up. This book charts his remarkable life, the market in which he operated, and examines in detail over 100 of his best pieces, all illustrated profusely in colour, on heavy art-silk paper. Ian White is an expert in the field, and is joined for two chapters by Sotheby's leading enamels expert, Julia Clarke.
