17,250 CHF
Penelope and the SuitorsQuare & Horseman, London, 5275, hallmarked 1725-26. Very fine and rare 22K gold repoussé pair-cased watch. Outer: two-body, repoussé with mythological scene, four repoussé vignettes on the edge with portraits of two men and two women alternating with pierced and engraved decorations, bezel pierced and engraved for sound and repoussé with four vignettes depicting flowers. Inner: two-body, "bassine", polished. Gold, champlevé radial Roman numerals, outer minute ring with five-minute Arabic markers on polished oval cartouches, center chased with a shield. Blued steel "beetle and poker" hands. 3,5 mm, gilt full plate with Egyptian pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, plain steel balance with flat balance spring, single-footed cock with streamers and almost straight foot, pierced and engraved with symmetrical stylized foliage, mask in the neck, rack and pinion regulator with silver plate.Signed on dial and movement.Diam. 53 mm. Notes Penelope and the SuitorsDuring Ulysse's twenty-year absence, Penelope remained faithful to her husband. She held off the suitors who demanded her hand for three years, by pretending that she was weaving a shroud for her father-in-law Laertes; in fact, she undid every night the work she had done during the day. Penelope's constancy and patience have become proverbial. Daniel Quare (c. 1648-1724)Was admitted as a brother of the Clockmakers' Company in 1671 and served as Master in 1708. First at St. Martin's-le
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2001-11-11
