25,300 CHF
Fromanteel & Clarke, London, circa 1700. Fine and very rare silver pair-cased, Sun and Moon watch with subsidiary seconds and date, accompanied by an iron chain with a seal and a key. Outer: two-body, silver, engraved with inhabited foliage, a mask and small vignette landscapes. Inner: double body, "bassine", polished with split bezel and loose-ring pendant. Silver champlevé engraved with scrolling foliage in which the Sun and Moon symbols, inlaid in a blued steel disc, appear alternatively in an open sector to indicate the hours of the day and night, marked along the rim in Roman numerals, the minutes being shown in the conventional manner on the outer Arabic ring, smal subsidiary seconds, date aperture above chapter "XII". Blued steel minute hand. Hinged gilt brass full plate with gilt brass tulip pillars, fusee with chain, verge escapement, plain three-arm steel balance, flat balance-spring, gilt brass English cock pierced and engraved with foliage, streamers on the basket.Signed on the dial and back plate, case stamped "PL".Diam. 58 mm. Notes Watches from this early period which also show the seconds are extremely rare, even more so when fitted with a Sun and Moon type dial.This watch took part in a number of exhibitions: Le Temps, vite! at The Centre Pompidou in Paris, from January 13, 2000 to April 17, 2000; Tempo! at Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome from July 28, 2000 to October 23, 2000; Arte y Tiempo at the Centro de Cultura Contemporània in Barcelona, Sp
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2001-10-13
