The NativityMartinot à Paris

The NativityMartinot à Paris. enamel by André Mussard, dated 1716.Very rare and fine painted on enamel over gilt brass, single-hand, center-wound watch with mock pendulum oignon watch. wo-body, oignon type, back very finely painted with the Holy Family in the stable after a painting by Rubens, the bezels with continuous rural landscapes, the top one with a bird hunter and a lakeside village, the lower with a lake, a traveler, ruins, and fishermen. Gilt brass with white enamel cartouches for Roman numerals, inner enamel half-hour track, center chased with birds and scrolling. Blued steel "fleur-de-lis" hand. Notes MartinotA very famous French watchmaking dynasty of the 17th and 18th century, the most famous of whom was perhaps Balthazar l'aîné. The son of Balthazar, also a watchmaker, he is recorded in Paris, rue de la Calandre, from 1683 to 1697, then Quai des Orfèvres, "A la belle image", in 1697, and died at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1716. Balthazar's brothers, all watchmakers, were Claude, Etienne, and Gilles.André MussardWas born in Geneva. He might be a brother of the famous Jean Mussard V. In 1740 we find André in La Haye (Hague) where he stayed until 1758. The Bath Museum had a portrait by him signed Andreas Mussard anno 1751