The present watch not only repeats the hours and quarters with the sound of a barking dog, the rarest form of repeating, but is also musical and with two extra automata. There are only about 20 of these watches (without music or extra automata) known, of which the majority are after Jean-Baptiste Oudry's painting "Dog Attacked by a Swan" (see lot 48). The present watch with the more realistic scene of a dog barking at a cat, is extremely rare and with the addition of the two extra automata and music is probably unique. The inscription scratched on the dial plate: ?fait par I. D. Piguet et Philippe Meylan à Genève,? is also present in the barking dog watches Nos. 19, 28, 34, and 146. The barking dog series numbers are usually lower than 300, the present watch as No. 303 would therefore be at the end of the series and final development of the type with the far more complex mechanism and unusual dial scene. Issac Daniel Piguet Born in 1775 in Le Chenit in the Vallée de Joux, Isaac Daniel Piguet was the son of Pierre Moïse Piguet and Elisabeth Nicole. He married Jeanne Françoise Capt in around 1795, and around 1800 settled in Geneva with his family (a son, Charles Auguste, had been born in 1796). Isaac Daniel Piguet became associated with Henri Daniel Capt, his brother-in-law, on February 10, 1802. At the time, he did work on occasion for Jean-Frédéric Leschot (he is mentioned in the Leschot account books under the heading ?payments to workers? and it appears that it is around this time, as well, that he made a ?small musical movement made up of 5 notes executed by steel springs, to replace the watch in a ring, which was a fashionable piece of jewelry at the time?. In 1815, 4 years after he had begun his association with Philippe Samuel Meylan, Isaac Daniel Piguet applied to become a "bourgeois" of the city of Geneva, this request was granted. In the request, several interesting points are mentioned, among them the statement made by his peers (among others, Moulinié, Bautte et Moynier, Isaac Ruegger, Rémond, Lamy et Mercier, and the Frères Duchène): ?He is the first to have established musical pieces here, of which genre he is the inventor?, and that ?Sieur Piguet occupies and supports a great number of our fellow citizens?. In 1815, and until the end of their association in 1828, Piguet and Meylan both lived, with their families, in the same house, at number 45 of the rue Chevelu (today re-named the rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau). The Piguet & Meylan firm was truly a family affair; David Auguste Piguet, the son of Isaac Daniel, and François and Auguste Meylan, sons of Philippe Samuel, all served their apprenticeship in the company. The firm was represented in Paris by M.J. Mochelle, in the rue Coq St. Honoré, 6. The association between Piguet & Meylan came to an end in 1828. Piguet and his son David Auguste established a new company, Piguet père & fils, located no 69 rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. At the time, the Piguet family no longer lived in the rue Chevelu, but had moved to the large country home, in Pregny, of Isaac?s new wife (his first wife having died, Isaac Daniel had remarried, in 1824, Claudine Françoise Jaquet, the daughter of a well-known Genevan sculptor and architect). In March 1832, the ?I-D Piguet & fils? company was dissolved, the commercial portion of it being taken over by Charles Philippe Piguet of Morges, a town 50 km. outside of Geneva, and the horological portion being reincorporated into a new entity, ?Piguet et Cie?, headed by David Auguste, the son of Isaac Daniel. David Auguste was soon to become a member of the Grand Conseil de Genève, and to hold an important political role in the city. One of his sons, Timothée, became a painter of some renown. Isaac Daniel Piguet died in Geneva, on January 20, 1841, at the age of 66. Philippe Samuel Meylan. Born February 15, 1772, in Bas-du-Chenit, died in Geneva in 1845. At 20 years of age he came to Geneva where he was a master worker for the Godemar Frères. He met another watchmaker from his native region, Isaac Piguet, and they entered into partnership, founding the Piguet & Meylan firm, which was to last from 1811 to 1828. It specialized in minute cadratures, musical watches, skeleton and automaton watches. Meylan is also credited with the invention of the bagnolet caliber. After Piguet & Meylan was dissolved, Philippe Samuel Meylan continued to work with his sons François and Auguste. "Dictionnaire des Horlogers Genevois", by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum Editions, Geneva, 1998. Piguet & Meylan. Both originally from the village of Le Chenit in the Vallée de Joux, Isaac Daniel Piguet (1775-1841) and Philippe Samuel Meylan (1772-1845) came to Geneva as young men, and formed a partnership which lasted from 1811 to 1828. The company specialized in elaborate and beautifully decorated musical watches, including skeleton and automaton watches, and mechanical animals. The firm was established at 45, rue Jean Jacques Rousseau in Geneva. After their association came to an end, both Piguet and Meylan continued for some time to work with their sons. Frères Oltramare Working in Geneva between 1810/11 and 1826.