Lot 10

Jean II Rousseau, Geneva, 37 x 29 mm, 54 g, circa 1650
An important, one-handed pre-balance verge watch in form of a tulip bud
Case: brass, firegilt. Dial: brass, firegilt, silver chapter ring with radial Roman numerals. Movm.: oval full plate movement, gut/fusee, verge escapement, ratchet wheel set up with blued steel spring, plain two-arm iron balance without balance spring.
The gilt brass case has three hinged lids with bevelled rock crystal panels. The bezels are engraved with foliage and the spandrels in between are decorated with engraved flowers and foliage scrolls. The gilt brass dial has an applied silver chapter ring and is similarly embellished with a finely engraved view of a city in the centre. The twisted and engraved lug resembles a flower stalk.
A similar tulip-shaped watch is owned by the British Museum.
The Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva has six watches by the family of Jean Rousseau.
The exhibition "Timepieces signed Rousseau", which took place from May 11 to October 13, 2012 at the Patek Philippe Museum, displayed around 30 of the 60 known watches that are signed Rousseau. All these watches are part of private collections or owned by public and private museums.
Jean II Rousseau (1606-1684) came from a renowned watchmaking family in Geneva. He had 12 children, five of which became watchmakers themselves. His great-grandson was the famous philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778).
Rousseau created a number of important clocks such as those in the form of a crucifix or a skull (memento mori) as well as astronomical clocks. Today many of Jean Rousseau‘s clocks are owned by famous museums such as the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Provenance: Dr. Folschveiller, Avignon, France.

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