Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces
Hong Kong, Oct 27, 2019
LOT 479
BOUVIER FRÈRES POCKET WATCH WITH “WANDERING” AUTOMATA; 18K YELLOW GOLD AND ENAMEL
HKD 170,000 - 220,000
CHF 21,250 - 27,500 / USD 21,700 - 28,050
18K yellow gold and enamel, double-face open-face, key-winding, round-shaped, “Directoire” pocket watch, with, on the reverse, “wandering” automata (aperture at 12 o’clock). White enamel dial, with, on the lower part, an eccentric dial for the time with “Breguet” numerals, and, on the upper part, the fast-and-slow regulation; yellow gold “Fleur- de-lys” hands. Fausse-plaque (false-plate) polychrome enamelled with champlevé décor on black-background showing, on the lower part, a large cup surrounded by two Putti with flowers and foliages, and, above, in a semi-circular aperture, driven by the going train, gold automatons passing in a merry-go-round (carousel or roundabout), showing a cupid riding on a dog, a hunter with his dog, a peasant with his donkey and a shepherd with his sheep, over a blued-steel background, turning over every minute; the painting on enamel on gold attributable to Jean-Louis Richter (1766-1841), Geneva.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-72-01 |
Good ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Chipped winding aperture HANDS Original |
Brand Bouvier Frères, Geneva
Year Circa 1795-1800
Calibre 18’’’, verge escapement
Dimensions 50 mm.
Signature Dial
Notes
case, are known to exist. They are signed by the horlogers-marchants (watchmakers and merchants), Bouvier Frères (Brothers) and by Chevalier & Cochet, both associations from Geneva. These watches exist with visible balance and / or fast-and-slow regulation.
• No. 6 389 (Inv. S-213; on this one, the figures wandering and swivelling on themselves);
• No. 7 066 (Inv. S-666; this one unsigned), a later one, circa 1800- 1805, in Retour d’Egypte (Egyptian Revival) Empire-style (illustrated
by Chapuis, Alfred, & Gélis, Edouard, Le monde des automates, étude historique et technique, Paris, Neuchâtel, 1928, vol. II, p. 71, ill. 357).
• No. 6 129 (Inv. S-211);
• No. 6 589 (Inv. S-212);
Bouvier Frères (probably Jacques and David) are well known for their high-quality double-face watches with “wandering” automata, made at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries for the English and French markets but also for the Chinese market.
From their workshop, a much more complicated watch is listed (double- face with two-train) fitted with three motion automatons (Sotheby’s, New York, auction, December 6, 2011, lot 110, sold for the amount of US$ 98 500.-).
These watchmakers come from a family from the Pays de Gex (French region close to Geneva). One of their brothers or cousins is the famous and talented painter Pierre-Louis Bouvier (1765-1836), specialist in miniature portraits painted on enamel or oil, inventor of a machine to grind pigments (machine approved by the Institut de France in Paris).