Lot 149

Patek Philippe

Promenade en Lac par Suzanne Rohr

An unique, exquisite and extremely rare Geneva hunting case pocket watch with hand-painted enamel miniature by Suzanne Rohr after a landscape painting by Salomon van Ruysdael (1602-1670) - sold on July 1st, 2000 - with original box, leather wallet, leather protective etui, Patek Philippe certificate, brochures and sales receipt

Sold

17th century Geneva was the hub of enamel painting. The rare craft of miniature enamel painting is in every sense the most sophisticated of all decorative arts. At the end of the 1960s Patek Philippe began reviving this glorious era with a number of lavishly decorated watch cases. These exceptionally rare timepieces are unique copies and decorated on order with a motif chosen by the client. The creation of such pieces can take between a few months and two years.
One of the last great enamel artists specialising in enamel miniature painting was Suzanne Rohr (born 1939), a student with legendary enamel painter Carlo Poluzzi (1899-1978). In 1967 Suzanne Rohr began working closely and exclusively with Patek Philippe. In 2016 she retired at the age of 80 after a glorious career that spanned 40 years, and was in 2017 awarded the special prize of the Jury des Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève and the Prix de Gaïa Artisanat csategory, Création in 2019.
This hunter watch was painted by Suzanne Rohr after the painting "Rivierlandschap met veerpont" by Salomon van Ruysdael.
The original painting dating from 1649 shows a riverscape with a large central grove, Nyenrode castle on the left and a ferry on the right and resides today at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Salomon Jacobsz van Ruysdael (1603-1670) was a Dutch painter and designer during the Golden Age. He was known for his riverscapes, which usually include ferries.
Other Patek Philippe pocket watches decorated with enamel miniatures are exhibited in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva in the section "Enamelled and Engraved Pocket Watches (1960-2000)" and are illustrated and described in the two-volume work by Dr. Peter Friess "Patek Philippe Museum" in the volume "Treasures from the Patek Philippe Collection", pp. 76 - 81.