Benjamin Vulliamy No. 216. A George III white marble, ormolu and Derby biscuit porcelain mantel timepiece, London, circa 1790,

This timepiece belongs to a small group of similar examples produced by The Royal Clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy (1747-1811) during the final quarter of the 18th century, which incorporate Derbyshire biscuit porcelain figures after models designed by John Deare or Charles Peart.

Vulliamy was not the first English clock maker to produce figurative cases. This achievement claimed by Matthew Boulton, whose firm at Soho, Birmingham broke the conventional mode of plain or ebonised cases. Despite competition from the likes of James Cox, Eleanor Coade of Lambeth, and Josiah Wedgwood of Etruria (the latter two only for cases), Vulliamy soon came to dominate the market for luxury figurative clocks, aided no doubt by the patronage of George III and the Prince Regent.

The 'Apollo' figure was modelled in, or before, 1785 by John Deare, and appears in various clocks with or without wings. The inspiration for these figures, which Timothy Clifford argues ultimately derive from contemporary funerary monuments, was the work of John Bacon, R.A. Deare, although initially apprenticed to Thomas Carter II of Piccadilly and subsequently with his neighbour John Cheere, was engaged by Bacon around 1783. The following year, Deare was mentioned in the correspondence of Joseph Lygo, the sole London agent of the Derby Porcelain Factory, who became the intermediary. Deare's figures appear to have never been available as Derby stock items as Vulliamy seems to have been keen to preserve the use of the models for himself.

The original model for the putto was executed by another sculptor Charles Peart, and can be quite closely dated to between 30 October 1786 and January 1787. A similar putto, although naked and with a slightly different stance, was modelled by Deare and was in use on earlier clocks of circa 1785.