Lot 304

Antoine Archard

A rare, very fine Geneva quarter repeating verge pocket watch with automaton and 3 Jacquemarts "á trois couleurs"

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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 is a cut-out in the form of a balcony. 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.