Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces

Geneva, Mar 27, 2011

LOT 311

Mathieu Le Jne - The Little Preacher Mathieu Le Jne à Paris No. 893. Made circa 1770. Very fine and rare, 18K. gold and painted on enamel pocket watch with gold and painted on enamel chatelaine.

CHF 6,000 - 8,000

USD 6,000 - 8,000 / EUR 4,500 - 6,000

Sold: CHF 30,000

C. Two-body, "Louis XV", back repoussé, centered by painted enamel scene "The Little Preacher" after Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), showing a mother and her three children, one standing on a desk in a "preaching" pose, the other falling on the floor, the mother ready to pick him up. The front bezel repoussé with scrolls, border engraved in a geometrical pattern.The chatelaine with three enamel panels depicting 17th century tavern scenes, the links with enameled brickwork. D. White enamel, bosselé, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track. Gold "Louis XV" hands. M. 35 mm, hinged, gilt brass full plate, cylindrical pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement with micrometric potence adjustment, brass three-arm balance with flat spring, continental cock pierced and engraved with scrolls, polished steel endplate, rack and pinion regulator with silver plate. Movement signed. Diam. 43 mm.


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view
Image
Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3-75

Good

ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Slightly restored soft enamel
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 4-25-71-01

Fair

Chipped

ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Hairlines

HANDS Original

Notes

Mathieu Le Jeune (d. Paris after 1806) also known as Lejeune. Married to Anne Richter. Ouvrier Libre (1757). Received as Master on 9 September 1768. His son Alexandre carried on his business during the Empire. Established rue Mazarine (1759), rue Matignon (1761), rue St Honoré near the Jacobins (1769), then rue des Fondeurs (1778), and finally opposite the Observatoire (1800). He used clock cases by Delacroix, Héban and J.B. Osmond. Literature: "Les Ouvriers du Temps", Jean-Dominique Augarde, 1996 Antiquorum Editions.