102nd Auction
2020/6/29
Lot 411
Swiss, Case No. 6790, 55 mm, 139 g, circa 1820
An attractive quarter repeating verge pocket watch with automaton and 3 Jacquemarts "á trois couleurs"
Case: 18k gold, case maker's punch mark "OPG". Dial: enamel chapter ring. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, 2 hammers, 2 gongs, three-arm brass balance.
The three-colour gold, open-work automaton is modeled as an elegant, Renaissance-style house façade against a blued steel background. In the top half a cut-out in the form of a balcony is flanked by two, three-colour gold vases with flowers. When the repeater is released, a bearded Jacquemart appears from the left and moves across to strike the hour on a bell on the right with his hammer. In the lower half of the scene, two winged putti alternately strike the two bells hanging from the upper balcony.
The automaton Jacks on the dial refer to the Medieval way of public time announcing which was by real people striking every hour on a bell situated at the top of the city tower. Later, life-size robots, called Jacquemarts or Jacks, amused public by striking bells in large public clocks, of which, probably the most famous is the one in Venice at Piaza San Marco and the oldest (1383) in the tower of Dijon.
An attractive quarter repeating verge pocket watch with automaton and 3 Jacquemarts "á trois couleurs"
Case: 18k gold, case maker's punch mark "OPG". Dial: enamel chapter ring. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, 2 hammers, 2 gongs, three-arm brass balance.
The three-colour gold, open-work automaton is modeled as an elegant, Renaissance-style house façade against a blued steel background. In the top half a cut-out in the form of a balcony is flanked by two, three-colour gold vases with flowers. When the repeater is released, a bearded Jacquemart appears from the left and moves across to strike the hour on a bell on the right with his hammer. In the lower half of the scene, two winged putti alternately strike the two bells hanging from the upper balcony.
The automaton Jacks on the dial refer to the Medieval way of public time announcing which was by real people striking every hour on a bell situated at the top of the city tower. Later, life-size robots, called Jacquemarts or Jacks, amused public by striking bells in large public clocks, of which, probably the most famous is the one in Venice at Piaza San Marco and the oldest (1383) in the tower of Dijon.
Sold
estimated
6.500—10.000 €
Price realized
6.500 €