The richly engraved gold case is highly reminiscent of designs typically found on 17th century French metal cased ‘Oignon’ watches, known as such for their large onion-like shape. At this time Louis XIV’s Sumptuary Laws, were such that a wealthy patron desiring a gold cased Oignon would not be able to purchase one within the country as gold finery such as watches would have only been acceptable accessories for the noble elite. As such, to procure a gold watch such as this would have meant going abroad for their luxury purchase.
]]>While watchmaking and erotica would seem to be worlds apart, examples like this show that the two could be inextricably linked. For centuries watchmakers have created timepieces that portray couples in the throes of physical love. In a time before glossy publications or the internet, these objects, part art and part smut, offered their owners a titillating view of the ‘obscene’. These scenes were usually concealed behind a false caseback, but occasionally featured on dials as well. During the 17th century, watches were luxury items of status, and as so, many were specially commissioned. Clients could be offered the option of having a dial or caseback customised with a painting or engraving of their choice. While portraiture and mythological scenes were common, erotic scenes were also commissioned, as with this watch by Henri Capt. These timepieces worked not only to entertain, but also as a 17th century hook-up tool for the upper classes. A gentleman would reveal the concealed scene to an amorous lover to signal his intentions, if only just for the night. Of course, like all erotica, these objects were not tolerated by the church, so much so that religious authorities in Geneva and Neuchatel outlawed, seized and destroyed these types of objects based on their moral beliefs. While authorities tried to thwart the creation of these titillating objects, they did not succeed, with makers producing watches with false case backs to hide their illicit creations. By the time watches transitioned from the pocket to the wrist, erotic watches had become a social taboo and soon fell into the recesses of the public imagination.
Henri Daniel Capt was born in Chenin, Switzerland in 1773. He was renowned for his snuff boxes and watch cases which had musical and automation scenes. Capt was one of the first to make objects which combined musical and automation into everyday luxury objects, such as watches, snuff boxes and jewellery and. Capt was well known for his production of complicated watches and automata for various boxes and objects, many with music. He was among the first in Geneva to use a musical mechanism with a pinned cylinder and tuned teeth comb. He was one of the foremost makers of small musical automata in the late 18th and early 19th century. While most of his work was left unsigned, Capt would occasionally engrave their names on their movements. The design and artistry of his work coincided with an equivalent peak in artistic skill of a small group of Genevan case makers and enamel artists who together produced some of the most spectacular watches, snuff boxes and automata ever made.
]]>This fine and rare enamel cased verge watch is an exquisite example of the prowess of Swiss enamelling from the 17th century. Geneva’s unique geographic location and reputation as a safe haven from religious persecution made it a flourishing centre of trade throughout the 17th-19th centuries with high density of talented goldsmiths, watchmakers and enamellists practicing their trade.
This box depicts a fine polychrome scene Venus and Adonis, a story which has attracted artists and poets alike, from Shakespeare to Titian. The case band has also been skilfully painted with enamel pastoral vignettes to the band, framed by foliage and flowers on blue ground, while the interior of the case has also been decorated with a painted pastoral scene. In the 17th century classical landscape painting came into prominence in Europe. These landscapes were influenced by classical antiquity and sought to illustrate an ideal landscape recalling Arcadia, a legendary place in ancient Greece known for its quiet pastoral beauty. The Roman poet Virgil had described Arcadia as the home of pastoral simplicity. Painters and patrons alike took influence from the Italian landscapes they had travelled through on the Grand Tour, like the scenes on this watch case.
The Huaud (or Huaut) family of Geneva are celebrated for their distinct and beautiful style of enamelling, particularly their work in miniatures and watch cases. Their outstanding work is characterized by their rich and varied use of bold colours, in contrast to the pastel shades of contemporary French enamellers in Blois. The enamel cases decorated by the Huaud family are regarded as exceptional works of art in their own right, with examples of their work in the collections of major museums around the world including the Met (New York), the Louvre (Paris) and the V&A (London).
The Huad family were the decedents of Huguenots who settled in Geneva to escape increasing religious persecution in France. Born in 1612, Pierre I Huaud was the son of the French goldsmith Jean Huaud and founder of the dynasty. In 1630 he moved to Geneva where three of his eleven children would also become renowned enamellers: Pierre II (1647-1698), Jean-Pierre (1655-1723) and Ami (1657-1724). It is likely that the three brothers trained in the workshop of their father until around 1680 when Pierre II set up his own workshop in Geneva. The present watch case, signed Huaud Le puis né, or ‘Huaud the first-born’, can be dated from this period. The watch cases of the Huauds are usually found with movements made by various Dutch, English, French, German and Swiss makers to whom they were obviously sold at the time.
The second son, Jean-Pierre entered into partnership with his brother Ami in 1682, when the brothers moved to Berlin in an attempt to find the support and patronage for their luxury items. In 1686 they were joined by their brother Pierre II, who helped them obtain appointments as enamel painters to Friedrich Wilhelm III (1657-1713) who would become the Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg, a position they held until their return to Geneva in 1700. The brothers continued working together until the death of Jean-Pierre in 1723 and Ami a year later.
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Montre à tact earns its name from the unique way in which they are used to tell the time; through touch and feel. Similar to repeater pocket watch, a montre à tact enables its owner to tell the time in the dark or in their pocket, by feeling the position of the hand on the front of the case relative to touch pieces on the edge of the case used to mark the hours. As the Duke himself suggested, this style of watch was fashionable for those who wished to know the time without the embarrassment of visually checking their watch without showing insult to their host by showing one’s boredom or anxiety over the time.
This particular pocket watch was presented to William Booth (1792 – 1880) an officer in the British Army Commissary and later Clerk of Survey at the Ordnance Office in Dublin, by his close friend, the Duke of Wellington. As the watch inscription reads, ‘This watch worn by Arthur, Duke of Wellington, in the war in Spain and at the Battle of Waterloo, was presented to Deputy Commissary General William Booth in 1833’. Booth joined the war in the 1808 before joining Wellington’s staff in 1809, where he would stay until the end of the Peninsular War in 1814. He was appointed controller of the army Commissary accounts in the field before taking charge of army Commissary accounts in the Netherlands. Booth accompanied Wellington and the army to Paris after the battle of Waterloo, where he remained in charge of Commissariat accounts until the final evacuation in 1818. Booth retired from government work in 1856 and would spend his remaining years at his home in Cheltenham until his death in May 1880.
]]>The 'barking dog' series of watches are quite rare and appear to represent the earliest type of watch produced by Piguet & Meylan. This timepiece unusual in terms of automata as it does not strike a gong but activates a set of bellows to mimic a dog barking. To achieve the sound, the mechanism exerts a sharp pressure on a miniature bellows connected to a whistle vented through an aperture which simultaneously opens to the lower edge of the case.
Just over 20 ‘Barking Dog’ automata watches are known, of which the majority are of large size (approximately 59mm in diameter). The present watch measures just 39mm in diameter and is one of only four examples currently known of such small size. Watches featuring a barking dog automaton were most commonly produced with a dog attacking a swan or other bird. The bird and swan theme is believed to have been based on paintings from the 1740s by Jean Baptiste Oudry. By contrast, all four of the small ‘Barking Dog’ watches feature a dog barking at a cat, a scene most likely based on a design by the painter Johann Wenzel Peter (1745-1829). These small watches, all by Piguet & Meylan, are numbered between 275 and 282; two of these feature their cat to the left side of the scene, whilst the other two show the cat at the scene’s right.
The Bohemian painter Johann Wenzel Peter (1745-1829) lived and worked in Rome from 1774 and specialized in painting animals in conflict. His design of a dog barking at a cat (though not identical to this) was much copied by Roman mosaicists after it was first recorded in the studio of the mosaicist Puglieschi in 1805/6. An example signed by Gioacchino Barberi (1783-1857) is set into the lid of a contemporary gold box by A.J. Strachan, London, 1807/8 that is now in the Gilbert Collection, London (Charles Truman, The Gilbert Collection of Gold Boxes, vol. I, Los Angeles, 1991, p. 328, no. 113). Another example, in a private collection, signed by the mosaicist Domenico Moglia (1780-1862) is also set into the lid of a snuff box by Strachan, c. 1807/8; the base is set with a micro mosaic of a dog barking at a swan. It is not inconceivable that Piguet & Meylan were aware of these fashionable mosaics since many were bought as plaques by travellers on the Grand Tour and mounted by Geneva gold box makers.
]]>The houses of Bapst and Falize were each renowned in their own right, but unified for a short period between 1880 and 1892. In 1876 Lucien Falize (1839-97) assumed control of the Falize workshops from his father, Alexis Falize. Having apprenticed under his father for two decades, Lucien was a competent successor for the firm—a highly skilled enamellist, goldsmith, and designer. Lucien’s obsession with historical aesthetics, particularly the Renaissance and Japanese art, matched if not surpassed that of his father. In 1878, Falize won a grand prize for his jewellery as well as the coveted Legion of Honour Cross at Paris’s International Exposition.
Germain Bapst (1853-1921) was descended from French royal jewellers, Evrard and Frederic Bapst, who created several magnificent pieces for the French royal family, including an emerald tiara for Marie-Therese, the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Bapst proposed joining their firms together, and on 16 June 1880, the partnership between Lucien Falize and Germain Bapst was formalized. As descendant of the famous crown jewellers, Bapst and could expect loyal customers and friends to follow him in this new venture, while Falize, following his success at the International Exposition, could certainly hope to gain from the long- standing reputation of the Bapst name. Both of the new partners were widely respected for their expertise and their professional skills and enjoyed great success until 1892, when their partnership was dissolved.
]]>The Tank ‘Normale’ was the very first Tank. Created in 1917 and available to the public 1919, the original concept was almost painfully simple: four lines, with two parallel shafts, allowing the strap to be seamlessly integrated into the case. The trademark design cues that would come to define the Tank collection were already present at this early stage: Roman numerals for the hours, a railway track minute counter, blued steel hands, and of course, a winding crown set with a cabochon blue sapphire. Inside the case sits a thin, manually-wound mechanical movement, designed by French watchmaker Edmond Jaeger and manufactured by LeCoultre & Cie.
]]>In 1762, 15 year old Breguet became apprenticed to a Versailles master watchmaker. The young Breguet soon astonished his master with his aptitude and intelligence, and pursued further education through evening classes in mathematics at the Collège Mazarin under Abbé Marie, who became a friend and mentor to the young watchmaker. It was through this relationship that Breguet was first introduced to King Louis XVI of France, an introduction which would lead to invaluable commissions. His career started with a series of breakthroughs: the development of the successful self-winding perpétuelle watches, the introduction of the gongs for repeating watches and the first shock-protection for balance pivots.
One his most successful innovations was that of the souscription watch. A simple watch of relatively large diameter (61mm), with a single hand, enamel dial, and equipped with a special movement of great simplicity. First conceived in 1794 and sold in 1796, the souscription watch owed its name to the way in which the watch was purchased on a subscription basis. As Breguet explained in the brochure he had printed for its launch in 1797, “The price of the watch… will be 600 livres; a quarter of this sum will be payable on subscription; there will thus be no delays in the manufacture, and delivery will be according to the order of subscription…” This deposit brought with it much needed capital, which allowed Breguet to produce these watches in a fashion similar to a mass-production line. Reliable and affordable, the souscription watch enjoyed great success and attracted many new clients, with over 700 examples made in either gold or silver cases.
]]>During the 18th century the English made significant efforts to expand their trade through China. London clock-makers played a prominent role in the popularity of ‘Curiosities’ so admired by the Chinese. Contrary to what one might think, these watches did not adopt forms from their intended home. Chinese taste showed a preference for fantastical forms, arabesque floral arrangements with colourful gem set borders.
This watch is an excellent example of watches produced in London for trade to the Far East, particularly China. The watch, made by Francis Perigal, features several fantastical beasts depicted in colourful gems set atop a background of a bloodstone case. The Perigals were a family of celebrated horologists from which three firms originated. Francis Perigal, the founder, was established from 1740 at the Royal Exchange, where he was succeeded by his son and grandson. Another Francis (1770-94), who was watchmaker to the king, settled in New Bond Street and was succeeded by Perigal & Duterran, 'Watchmakers to His Majesty,' from 1810 to 1840.
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