Collector's Pocket Watches, Wristwatc...

Noga Hilton, Geneva, Apr 12, 2003

LOT 449

Sotiau, Paris, circa 1785.Very fine and important gilt bronze, astronomical, eight-day going, center-seconds hour- and half hour-striking table regulator with triple date and zodiac.

CHF 110,000 - 140,000

EUR 76,000 - 97,000 / USD 80,000 - 104,000

C. Rectangular, glazed on all sides, front with applied gilt rose stems at the top corners, hinged ormolu drapes below the bezel covering the winding squares, unusual twisted gilt frames on each side with silver rod inside, molded base with acanthus leaves, molded cornice terminated with gilt rosettes among stylized acanthus leaves, the top centered with engraved star rosette and foliage on matte background, hinged back door. D. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute gilt dot divisios, five-minute Arabic markers, inner red days of the week, followed by date also in radial red Arabic numerals, hour chapter, Zodiac signs and corresponding moths in the outermost. Gilt pierced hands. M. Rectangular with canted corners 16 x 12 cm., two large going barrels, Graham dead-beat escapement set outside back plate, with very small lifts on the pallets and adjustment for the depth of the engagement, gridiron compensation pendulum with brass "sunburst" bob with woman's face, knife-edge supension mounted independently from the movement, striking on a bell, count wheel on the back plate. Signed on the dial. Diam. 38 x 22 cm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3
Movement: 3*
Dial: 3 - 01

Notes

Renacle-Nicolas Sotiau, Paris (Liege 1749 - Paris 1791),Was for a period one of the most famous clockmakers in Paris. He used cases by Thomire and Rémond. Clocks of his making were owned by Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, the Prince de Praslin, the Duc de Polignac, the Prince Regent of Great Britain, later King George IV, among others. He became Master in 1782, and held the title of "Horloger de M. le Dauphin". His clocks are in the London Royal Collection, Versailles, and the Walters Museum.Bibliography: "Les Ouvriers du Temps" by Jean-Dominique Augarde, Editions Antiquorum, Genève, 1996, p.373.