A Rouen, No. 802, circa 1740. Very rare gold Blois school enamel case with later watch movement. | L\'ART DE L\'HORLOGERIE EN FRANCE DE XVIe AU XXe SIÈCLE | Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, 14th November 1993

L\'ART DE L\'HORLOGERIE EN FRANCE DE ...

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Nov 14, 1993

LOT 26

A Rouen, No. 802, circa 1740. Very rare gold Blois school enamel case with later watch movement.

CHF 120,000 - 140,000

Sold: CHF 138,000

C. Double body, decorated in polychrome enamel on all surfaces, the exterior of the back with Mars and Venus within black line border, the band with a continuous landscape scene, after Gabriel Perelle, the interior with figures and buildings in a landscape, the cover with the Judgement of Paris on the outside with figures beside a river on the interior. Later loose ring pendant and support, small ring added to the front bezel (various old damages and cracks). D. White enamel, contemporary with the movement, with Roman hour and Arabic minute numerals, winding aperture at 3 o'clock. Pierced gold Louis XVI hands. M. Gilt full plate with turned pillars, fusee with chain, verge escapement, plain three-arm brass balance with flat balance spring and silver regulator disc, pierced continental cock the whole mounted in brass spacer ring. In good condition, but with old damages as stated. Diam. 45 mm.

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Notes

The subject on the back of the case is after an engraving by Michel Dorigny from a painting by Simon Vouet(1590 - 1649). The painting on this case is the work of an enameller with a distinctive style, but few comparable examples survive. Another case, also with a black line bordering the back, is preserved in the British Museum. Signatures appear infrequently on French enamels from Blois, and the artist's style often changed with the developing technique.