50,600 CHF
Attributable to Piguet & Capt, circa 1810. Very fine and rare 18K gold and enamel, pearl-set lyre-shaped musical automaton. One side of the sound-board decorated with a vase of gold and white flowers against a blue background, the winding aperture in one of the petals, the horns in a floral and foliate pattern against matching blue enamel, suspended from a double gold chain. Automaton: the figures in multicolored gold over polychrome enamel with a rural landscape and ruins in the background; a seated lady plays the hurdy-gurdy, a boy behind her taps his foot, a man dances to the music. 25 mm. (11’’’), circular, barillet type, six-wheel train with the last pinion in eccentric bushing to regulate the tempo, five tuned teeth, the dancer driven by pins mounted on the flat part of the barrel, the boy’s leg by the same, the hurdy-gurdy motion from an extra pinion driven from the barrel but not connected to the train. Dim: width 33 mm., length 64 mm. Notes An almost identical automaton was in Sir David Salomon’s collection. Piguet & Capt Isaac Daniel Piguet (1775–1841) and Henry Capt (1775–1841) were partners from 1802 to 1811. They specialized in musical and automaton watches but also made very fine musical pieces with automata. Two small musical movements with five tuned teeth, playing tunes on five notes, were among their first, made in 1802. In 1811 Piguet became associated with Meylan, forming another famous firm, Piguet et Meylan.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2002-10-19
