A. Mazurier A Paris, French, circa 1645. Exceptionally fine and rare 22 ct. gold and enamel verge watch, the case decorated en grisaille. C. Double | Important Watches, Wristwatches and clocks

Important Watches, Wristwatches and c...

Geneva, Apr 20, 1996

LOT 264

A. Mazurier A Paris, French, circa 1645. Exceptionally fine and rare 22 ct. gold and enamel verge watch, the case decorated en grisaille. C. Double

CHF 0 - 0

Sold: CHF 377,500

C. Double body, entirely decorated in the technique of peinture en email stir email the main body with Biblical scenes on the back, band and centre of the interior, the border of the inside in turquoise enamel with a ring of stylised buds, the pendant and exterior of the bezel with floral sprays, the interior with leaf and pellet design. D. Enamelled on gold with Roman hour chapters, stamen half-hour divisions, the centre of turquoise enamel decorated with regular foliage patterns(invisible repair). Single blued-steel hand. M. Gilt brass full-plate with turned balluster pillars, fusee with gut-line, short train with verge escapement, plain two-arm steel balance, irregular florally pierced and engraved balance cock (tiny hole indicating that a balance-spring may have been later fitted at same time). Worm-and wheel set-up with pierced blued-steel brackets, rubricated engraved silver regulator disc. Signed on the back plate. In excellent condition. Diam. 39mm.

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Antoine Maz(s)urier, recorded as working in Paris from 1637 to 1649. His most important known surviving work is an enamel watch with the case signed by Henri Toutin, made for the 166 occassion of the marriage of William II of Orange to Mary Stuart of England in 1641, preserved in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. No.NM 638. The scenes depicted on the case of the watch now offered for sale are as follows: THE BACK: The Crucifixion, with 32 discernible figures in attendance including Mary, the dice players, Roman soldiers mounted on horseback, winged angels and devils. THE BAND: Four vignettes representing the Evangelists, Luke shown with a winged man, Mark with a Lion, Mathew with a Bull and John with an Eagle, each panel separated by classical style pillar. THE INTERIOR: The Temptation of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, with the sleeping Apostles and awaiting soldiers. Watch cases from thel7th. century with grisaille decoration are exceptionally rare, with apparently only three other examples currently known. One depicts a battle scene after Tempesta in camaieu bleu , with movement by Louis Baronneau (Musee Paul Dupuy, Toulouse, inv.18230), and another in camaieu brun with movement by Abraham Cailliate ,(Olivier Coll.,Musee du Louvre, inv. OA 8332). The present example is painted in a purplish hue, and is extraordinary for the complexity and detail of the scenes depicted. Attributing the work to a known artist is virtually impossible in view of its rarity, although it is tempting to consider painters who were also trained as engravers, such as Gribelin, in view of fineness of the linework.