James Cox (inventor)
Encyclopedia
James Cox was a British jeweller, goldsmith
and entrepreneur
best known for creating mechanical clocks, including Cox's timepiece
(powered by atmospheric pressure
) and the Peacock Clock from the State Hermitage Museum
in Saint Petersburg
.
Cox despatched his son John Henry
to Canton, China in 1782 to sell off an accumulated stock of mechanical toys known as “singsongs”, which were popular with the Chinese. In Canton, both James and John Henry became partners with Daniel Beale
and his brother Thomas
in the firm of Cox & Beale.
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
best known for creating mechanical clocks, including Cox's timepiece
Cox's timepiece
Cox's timepiece is a clock developed in the 1760s by James Cox. It was developed in collaboration with John Joseph Merlin . Cox claimed that his design was a true perpetual motion machine, but as the device is powered from changes in atmospheric pressure via a mercury barometer, this is not the case...
(powered by atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted into a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the atmosphere of Earth . In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point...
) and the Peacock Clock from the State Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
.
Cox despatched his son John Henry
John Henry Cox
John Henry Cox , charted Great Oyster Bay Maria Island and Marion Bay on the east coast of Tasmania in 1789, aboard his armed brig Mercury.- Early years :...
to Canton, China in 1782 to sell off an accumulated stock of mechanical toys known as “singsongs”, which were popular with the Chinese. In Canton, both James and John Henry became partners with Daniel Beale
Daniel Beale
Daniel Beale was a Scottish merchant and fur trader active in the Far East mercantile centres of Bombay, Canton and Macau as well as at one time the Prussian consul in China.-Biography:...
and his brother Thomas
Thomas Beale
Thomas Beale , was a Scottish naturalist, opium speculator and general merchant operating in the Far East during the 19th century.-Biography:Thomas was the younger brother of Daniel Beale and the cousin of Thomas Chaye Beale....
in the firm of Cox & Beale.
External links
- Peacock Clock - picture of the peacock clock in the hermitage
- Snuffbox watch, necessaire, watch - pictures of two exhibits of the Victoria and Albert Museum
- The Silver Swan - webseite of the Bowes Museum
