Lot 418

Epaphras Laudreau

An early single-handed pendant watch from Bordeaux

Sold

The silver watch case is engraved with stylised leaf tendrils. The silver champlevé dial has a very fine ornamental engraving in the centre: a barking dog and a frightened swan between flower tendrils. The subject may have been inspired by the painting "The Threatened Swan" by the Dutch painter Jan Asselijn (1610-1652), which is now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It was later seen as an allegory of national fortitude in the face of the Anglo-Dutch naval wars.

In addition to his work as a watchmaker, Epaphras Laudreau or Landreau, is also recorded as a Protestant pastor for the parish of Castets-en-Dorthe in France in the period 1679 - 1685.