Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Geneva, Mar 15, 2015

LOT 153

ROBERT & COURVOISIER THE DUTCH KITCHEN YELLOW GOLD Robert & Courvoisier, No. 799/769, the automaton movement attributed to Pierre Simon Gounouilhou, Geneva. Made circa 1815. Extremely fine and very rare, large, 18K gold and painted on enamel watch with an automaton scene with five actions.

CHF 80,000 - 120,000

HKD 670,000 - 1,000,000 / USD 86,000 - 130,000

Double-body, "Directoire", polished with glazed back, concealed hinge. White enamel with Arabic numerals, outer minute track with painted gold divisions, regulation sector below 12. Fancy pierced gold hands. Magnificent varicolored gold automaton scene applied over a finely painted ground depicting a kitchen: a lady using a pestle and mortar sitting by a fire over which meat is being roasted, a boy peers through a window above her, to the right, a dog running in a rotating cage turns the spit, below a dog plays with a cat by a basket of vegetables. 50 mm. (22 1/4'''), gilt brass full plate with cylindrical pillars, fusee with chain, cylinder escapement, plain brass three-arm balance with flat balance spring, regulation via the dial. Automaton driven by an independent movement with going barrel and five-wheel train, eccentrically mounted and adjustable pinion as the governor, driving the automata by means of cams and levers, activated by depressing the pendant. Numbered on the pendant.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 2

Very good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-70-01

Good

ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Hairline

HANDS Original

Notes

DIAM. 59 mm. PIERRE SIMON GOUNOUILHOU (1779-1847) was born in 1779, settled in Geneva (Quai Neuf en l'Isle, No. 241) in 1799. An imaginative maker of great repute, he produced automata and musical objects and watches, ring watches with virgule escapement and quarter-repeating, watches with cases using unusual decorative techniques such as granulation. He left very interesting shop notes with an abundance of information about the habits and customs of early 19th century Geneva watchmakers. "THE KITCHEN" This form of automaton watch appears to have been produced only by GOUNOUILHOU AND DUBOIS & FILS. Those made by Gounouilhou employ fusee and chain, rarely found in Swiss watches, whereas Dubois used a going barrel, and his kitchen was run from the repeating mechanism. Fewer than a dozen "Kitchen" automata are known. The automaton mechanism controls: 1. The lady's hand. 2. The spit's rotation. 3. The fire's flames. 4. The dog's running. 5. The wheel turning.