Italian priest Matteo Ricci presented a chime clock to Emperor Wanli in 1600. Nearly 200 years later, a British diplomatic corps led by George Macartney presented a musical clock to Emperor Qianlong.

"Clocks became common in China's imperial palaces, and were beloved by the rulers," Li adds. "The Western world found these timepieces a key to the door of the Middle Kingdom."

He says Beijing's Palace Museum houses two similar gilded-bronze British clocks from the 18th century: One is an elephant pulling an European chariot and the other is an elephant carrying on its back a clock in the shape of pipa, a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument.

For some reason, the former clock was taken back to its place of origin.

It was later acquired by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, the King of Persia (1948-96) during his visit to London in 1890.

It then remained with the Pahlavi Dynasty before being sold again to a British collector in 1925.