Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, May 13, 2007

LOT 595

"Venus and Adonis" Barthelemy Duhamel, (Geneva), the enamel almost certainly by Pierre Huaud. Made circa 1685. Very fine and rare, painted on enamel, 21K gold, single-hand pendant watch with early hairspring.

CHF 100,000 - 150,000

EUR 60,000 - 100,000 / USD 80,000 - 120,000

Sold: CHF 169,750

C. Two-body, ?bassine? with incurved edges, engraved split bezel, back finely painted on enamel depicting Venus pleading with Adonis not to go hunting, with a dogs and cupid, the band with four vignettes painted with rural scenes, castle ruins, Alpine scene, inside a turreted building in the foreground with large trees overshadowing it and mountainous background, small pendant, loose ring. D. White enamel, large radial Roman numerals with half-hour indexes, inner quarter-hour ring, center with finely painted scene depicting Venus attempting to entice Adonis, while he appears unmoved and impatient for the hunt. Gilt ?unicorn? hand with tail. M. 34 mm., hinged, gilt brass, full plate, divided and engraved Egyptian pillars, fusee and chain, short three-wheel train with seven-leaf pinions, verge escapement, steel balance, short balance spring, Thuret index regulator, pierced and engraved silver cock with three equidistant foliate grilles, finely chased foliate blued steel click and spring set-up, rack and pinion regulator with silver scale plate. Movement signed. Diam. 39 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3-55

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-01

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

Venus and Adonis According to the legend, Adonis was born from the incestuous union of Myrrha and her father Cinyras, King of Paphos in Cyprus. The gods transformed Myrrha into a myrrh-tree and in due course Adonis was born when the tree?s trunk was split open by a wild boar. Venus was struck by the beauty of the child Adonis and put him in the care of Persephone, the queen of the underworld. But Persephone loved the youth and refused to give him back to Venus. Jupiter was called on to pass judgment and ruled that Adonis was to remain one third of the year with each goddess in turn, spending the rest of the time as he pleased. Adonis died as he was born, being attacked by a wild boar while hunting. Venus, overcome with despair, fashioned a flower from the blood of his wounds - the red anemone, which blooms briefly each year and then dies. Similar scenes to those on the band are illustrated in ?Emailmalerei auf Genfer Taschenuhren vom 17. bis zum Beginnenden 19. Jahrhundert?, by Hans Boech, 1982, Table 19.

Pierre Huaud I (1612 -1680)
was a protestant who emigrated to Geneva, where he became a "habitant" in 1630. He finished his apprenticeship as a goldsmith with Laurent Légaré in 1634, and soon afterwards became Master goldsmith. In 1661 he served an apprenticeship in enamel painting with Jean André. His three sons became enamel painters as well.

Barthelemy Duhamel (1662-1705)
Son of Pierre, apprenticed Abraham Bobinet in 1675 and Pierre Urbain Dufour in 1679. He worked with Philippe Decombe in 1688. Literature: "Dictionnaire des Horlogers Genevois" by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum Editions, Geneva, 1998.