40,250 HKD
Venus Disarming Cupid Herbeau, Paris, No. 2023, circa 1750. Very fine and important 20K gold, painted on enamel, paste-set watch with early paillon application. Two-body, Louis XV, the back in azure enamel centered by a finely painted scene depicting Venus taking his bow away from her son Cupid within a translucent green enamel frame over gold paillons resembling engine-turning, borders decorated with gold paillons depicting roses on a white enamel background with scrolling of gold paillons resembling engine-turning covered with translucent green enamel, front bezel decorated with paillons forming flowers, paste-set thumb-pieces. White enamel, Roman numerals separated by paste stones, outer minute divisions with five-minute Arabic markers, winding aperture at 4 o’clock. Gold “Louis XV” hands. 34 mm, hinged, frosted gilt full-plate with pentagonal baluster pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, steel balance with flat balance-spring, micrometric potence adjustment, continental cock.Signed on the movement, pendant punched “ET”. Diam. 46 mm. Notes There is little doubt that this case and the previous one both came from the same workshop.The present watch is remarkable for its early use of the paillon technique, as well as for the fact that some of the paillons were used to simulate engine-turning. The translucent green enamel was applied over specially formed gold paillons in such a way that they resemble an engine-turned pattern. We know of no earlier watch featuring
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2004-06-06
