Exceptional Horological Works of Art

Geneva, Oct 19, 2002

LOT 122

Henry Capt, Genève, No. 6710 and No.6711, circa 1820. Exceptionally rare and very fine pair of 18K gold musical automaton watches playing on every hour or on demand, made for the Chinese market.

CHF 150,000 - 200,000

EUR 100,000 - 130,000

Sold: CHF 146,500

C. Four-body, "Empire", engine-turned, gilt cuvette with winding and setting apertures. D. Eccentric, set at the top of the automaton dial, white enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track. Blued steel "lozenge" hands. The automaton is made up of a a cupid and a butterfly on a seesaw, a young lady accompanying them on a guitar, the whole against a finely painted on enamel park with a wall and summerhouse in the background. M. 52 mm. (23???), gilt brass, cylinder escapement, gold escape wheel, three-arm gold balance with flat balance spring, fixed barrel, sur plateau musical train with 26 tuned teeth working alternately on the top and bottom pins of the pinned disc, the automaton driven from a steel ratchet wheel-type cam mounted concentrically to the top of the pinned disc. Signed on the cuvette and stamped with maker's mark on the pillar plate under the dial. Diam. 57 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3 - 14
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Notes

The scene symbolizes the fragile balance of love. Psyche, symbol of the soul in Greek mythology, has often been represented by a butterfly, symbolizing the fragility of emotions. Cupid (in Greek mythology Eros) plays with emotions when shooting his arrows, just as in this piece the cupid and the butterfly are at play, perhaps in an allegory of the fight between body and soul. Henry-Daniel Capt Born in Chenit in 1773, he married Henriette Piguet. He specialized in the production of complicated watches, musical watches and automaton watches. Among the first in Geneva to use the musical mechanism with pinned cylinder and tuned teeth comb, he was famous for his snuffboxes with music and automaton scenes. From Ventôse 16, An X (March 7, 1802), to 1811, he formed a partnership with Daniel Isaac Piguet, who was from the same village as he. Their signature was Piguet & Capt. In 1811, when Piguet broke off to join Meylan in a new partnership, Henry-Daniel Capt continued to work on his own until, in 1830, he went into partnership with Aubert and son, Place Bel-Air. Their signature was Aubert & Capt. They were among the first Genevan makers to produce watches with chronograph. In 1844 the workshop was at 108, rue Neuve in Geneva. It was then managed by Capt's son, Henry Capt Jr. After a short time it moved to 85, rue de la Fusterie, and in 1851, to 177, rue du Rhône. In 1880, the firm was bought by Gallopin and its name became H. Capt Horloger, Maison Gallopin Successeurs, a trademark registered on November 1, 1880, under the No. 44. This signature was only used for watches retailed in their own store, the watches supplied to other retailers being merely signed Henry Capt. Henri Capt, along with Isaac Piguet and Philippe Meylan, was the foremost maker of small musical automata at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Most of his work is not signed, although he sometimes scratched his name on his movements. To find a watch with his name not only clearly signed on the case but also punched with his mark on the movement is very rare; to find a pair of such watches is exceptionally rare.