This piece represents one of the earliest applications of the invention of Antoine Favre, presented in 1796 to the Geneva Société des Arts, for a "carillon without bells playing two tunes and imitating the sound of the Mandolin, enclosed within a snuffbox of ordinary size", in which vibrating tuned blades replaced the much more bulky and fragile carillon bells.This invention was to revolutionize musical horology and the art of making objets de vertu in Geneva. It appears, however, that Favre only re-invented vibrating blades, which were presented in 1769 by Michel Joseph Ransonnet of Nancy to the French Academy of Sciences.
Their "re-invention" by Favre possibly saved the Genevan horological industry from a period of stagnation due to the French occupation, high taxes, and the English embargo.The invention did not make Favre wealthy. By 1799 he was losing his eyesight, and asked the Société des Arts to loan him 36 Louis. Sad as it was from a human point of view, Favre's colleagues prospered greatly from his invention. The fi rst to grasp the tremendous potential of the new idea were Isaac Daniel Piguet, Henry-Daniel Capt and Philippe-Samuel Meylan. Their early pieces, like the present one, are extremely rare, and most of the surviving pieces are in museums. The Société des Arts' "Committee on Mechanics", which examined Favre's invention, suspended its meetings until 1800. In 1798, after a prolonged "war of nerves", French troops marched into Geneva and annexed the Republic. Over 90% of the work-force was affected, the situation was tragic. It was not until the beginning of the 1800's that the Fabrique began functioning again. Therefore, the oldest mechanical musical pieces with tuned blades were produced no earlier than approximately 1801 or 1802. Pieces signed by Capt alone date from either before 1802, when he became associated with Piguet, or after 1811- which is probably the case for this piece - after Capt's association with Piguet ended. The present watch is one of the fi rst musical automata of the second generation that is, using tuned teeth instead of hammers and bells slim in comparison to its predecessors, elegant but robust. This watch was sold at Antiquorum?s ?The Private Collection of Theodor Beyer? auction held in Zurich, Switzerland in November, 2003. The Beyer?s family engaged in the horological business early in 1760. As the sixth generation of retailers of horology, Theodor Beyer expanded the family?s business and shared the family?s wonderful collection of timepieces to the public with The Beyer Watch Museum. Mr. Theodor Beyer was known as one of the most prominent horologists in Europe. His passion and knowledge of horology created a halo of the highest professionalism around him. In his early years, Mr. Beyer studied watchmaking when he was fi rst apprenticed to Patek Philippe, which enabled him to have comprehensive understanding of the interior mechanisms as well as the external aesthetic qualities of watches. He was active in the world of horology since 1970s and 1980s where he collected a wide range of valuable timepieces. He was deemed as the most prestigious collector in various auctioneers as his profound horological knowledge, great vision and enthusiasm was widely appreciated. Mr. Beyer left the legacy of a world-renowned shop and a jewel of a museum to his son Rene Beyer in 1996. He then passed away in July, 2002. It was Antiquorum?s honour to have organised ?The Private Collection of Theodor Beyer? auction in Zurich in 2003, in search of the next lucky one for Mr. Beyer?s remarkable collection.
The "Theater" is one of the rarest of automaton watches. Only eight are known:
1. One formerly in the Gélis Collection 2. One in the Sandoz Collection, formerly in the Loup Collection 3. One formerly in the Salomons Collection 4. One signed Louis Duchêne et Fils, sold at Antiquorum, April 21, 1996, lot No. 258. 5. One featured in Antiquorum's auction "The Art of Horology in Geneva", November 13-14, 1999, lot No. 74. 6. One by Du Bois et Fils, in a private German Collection. 7. One sold by Antiquorum, April 13, 2002, lot 65. 8. This lot, previously sold by Antiquorum as part of 'The Private Collection of Theodore Beyer' on November 16, 2003, lot 47.
Of all the known examples all but two use almost an almost identical ebauche and feature similar movment mounting fi xtures stongly suggesting they were created by the same maker. Only three of them are signed, one by Duchêne et Fils of Geneva, the other by Du Bois et Fils of Le Locle,and this one by Capt. Four of them (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 7) were made for the Chinese market, which would explain why they are not signed.