Important Watches, Wristwatches and C...

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Apr 10, 1994

LOT 124

Not signed, French, circa 1870. Fine allegorical 8 day going, hour and hait hour striking Cartel in red tortoiseshell and Boulletype marquetry with gilt mounts and figures in the Louis XIV style.

C. With angled dished semi-circular sides resting on four lying horses mounted on the extremities of a lobed base. Symmetrical Boulle-type metal inlay to the faces of the case, base and pediment. The corners of the case are decorated with four caryatids in the form of oriental maidens representing the four seasons and there are four ewers placed in corresponding positions above them representing plenitude. The base of the glazed door carries an applied bronze representing Phæton in his chariot drawn by two horses above an exotic head flanked by swags. The pediment is surmounted by a winged figure of Father Time seated on a sphere and holding a scythe above an orientalised head perhaps representing Apollo. D. Gilt bronze with Roman numerals on white enamel cartouches. Blued steel Louis XIV hands. M. Rectangular with going barrels both for the going and the striking train, Brocot escapement, pendulum with Brocot suspension. Striking on a bell with count wheel on the back plate. In very good condition. Dim. 110 x 65 x 25 cm.