The Goats' SecretJames Cox

The Goats' SecretJames Cox, London, circa 1775. Fine and extremely rare 18 ct. gold and enamel two-train watch with a spinning paste-set star and concealed enamelled erotic scenes, made for the Chinese market. Three-body, the back in Imperial blue translucent champlevé enamel over an engine-turned ground representing three goats browsing amid a landscape with pagoda, the bezel in matching blue enamel. They represent lust, and suggest that other, more risqué scenes, may follow. Inside the back cover there is a finely painted enamel scene of a couple engaged in discussion, the inside dome with two couples enjoying themselves on a riverbank, swinging out the movement discloses another painting of a cople who have progressed farther, gilded ring protecting the movement. Small, centrally mounted, white enamel, Roman hour chapter, outer minute divisions with five-minute Arabic numerals, surrounded by a seven-arm garnet-set star with small paste-set rosettes mounted between the arms. When the mechanism is activated, the entire plate revolves, while the rosettes rotate at different speeds with a dazzling effect. Blued-steel hands. 33 mm o, hinged, gilt brass full plate with cylindrical pillrs, going barrel and cylinder escapement, gold three-arm balance, flat balance spring, later cock, all converted from verge escapement. The automaton driven by a fixed barrel and five-wheel train finished by a governing pinion in eccentric adjustable bushing to regulate the speed of the spin.Si