Hong Kong, May 29, 2022
LOT 341
Unsigned
Large revival skull watch; “memento mori”; silver
HKD 56,000 - 95,000
EUR 6,700 - 11,500 / CHF 7,000 - 12,000 / USD 7,100 - 12,100
Sold: HKD 75,000
Silver, hunting-case, key-winding, revival watch in the shape of a skull, so-called “memento mori”.
The upper cranial hemisphere engraved in taille-douce (fine cut) with Latin sentences and scenes and characters probably taken from the Holy Scriptures; the front with a skeleton in majesty. Inside cover decorated en suite with a Nativity.
Dial engraved in taille-douce with foliage; applied gilded brass ring for the time; blued steel “Spade hands”.
Movement 16’’’, full plate, gilded brass, fusee and chain, verge escapement, monometallic balance (probably gilded brass) and blued steel flat hairspring, pierced and engraved silver continental cock, polished steel end-piece, silver regulator disc.
The upper cranial hemisphere engraved in taille-douce (fine cut) with Latin sentences and scenes and characters probably taken from the Holy Scriptures; the front with a skeleton in majesty. Inside cover decorated en suite with a Nativity.
Dial engraved in taille-douce with foliage; applied gilded brass ring for the time; blued steel “Spade hands”.
Movement 16’’’, full plate, gilded brass, fusee and chain, verge escapement, monometallic balance (probably gilded brass) and blued steel flat hairspring, pierced and engraved silver continental cock, polished steel end-piece, silver regulator disc.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Brand Unsigned, probably Germany
Model “memento mori”
Year circa 1880
Movement No. unnumbered
Case No. unnumbered
Material silver
Caliber 16’’’, verge escapement
Dimensions 60.2 x 47.4 x 60.4 mm. (approx., without ring)
Notes
Revival Watch
After the revival of the Medieval and Renaissance styles, initiated in France by Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870) and Eugène Violet-le-Duc (1814-1879), objects of vertu inspired by works of art from the 16th and 17th centuries were much in favour in most European countries in the second half of the 19th century.
This kind of watch in the style of the 17th century may have come from the workshops of Kirks & Schwartz in Munich, Bavaria (Germany), active between c.1875 and c.1920, which is a specialty to recreate from ancient elements, including movements with verge escapement of the 18th century.
Such watches were sold as exhibition pieces and were not intended to be used and were sometime not fitted with working trains. As often, these reconstructed objects are later offered for sale as originals.
The watch we are presenting is characterised by its quality of execution and its size.