The Sandberg Watch Collection

Hotel Richemond, Geneva, Mar 31, 2001

LOT 130

The Alliance between Love and WineUnsigned, attributable to Piguet & Capt, enamel painting attributed to J-F-V Dupont, circa 1810.Extremely fine and unique, 18 ct. gold and enamel musical snuff box with two automaton 'Musique de chambre' scenes and a concealed watch with special escapement. Accompanied by a contemporary red flinqué engraved enamelled key.

C. Four-body, oblong, the rectangular central hinged enamel panel decorated with the scene The Alliance between Love and Wine from an engraving by F. Joullain dated 1751, which, in turn, is after a painting of 1744 by J. M. Nattier. It is executed in the manner of J-F-V Dupont. When the central cover is opened, the hours, minutes, and seconds are shown on two small dials above an enamelled chamber music quartet in formal evening dress. In contrast, in the base of the box, another cover opens andthe same players are found to have abandoned their music, their formality, and a significant amount of their dress. The two side compartments have rounded and hinged lids with blue and black enamel over guilloché in a diamond pattern, the borders with black champlevé enamel decoration, blue flinqué egraved enamel band with white and azure champlevé enamelled borders and four white, black and azure motifs. D. Small eccentric white enamel with Roman chapters and symmetrical subsidiary seconds sett the top of the 'chamber music' automaton. Blued-steel Breguet hands. M. Rectangular, 35 x 34 mm, gilt brass full plate, fixed barrel, virgule escapement, plain gilt three-arm balance, blued-steel flat balance spring, small two-footed plain cock.The musical movement with a free-standing pinned barrel playing on a stack of three sets of paired teeth. The harpist and flute player are driven from pins set on the cover of the barrel, the harpsichord and triangle player are driven by two sets of pins mounted on the first train wheel, the erotic scene is put in motion via a cam screwed to the free part of the standing barrel.Dim. 129 x 46 x 19 mm. Published in the Sandberg book, page 412-413.