2,060,000 HKD
THE THEATER Henry Capt, Geneve, No. 309. Made circa 1815. Highly important and exceptionally rare 18K gold and enamel double-face, triple-train, musical double automaton quarterrepeating watch with provision for à tact repeating and concealed erotic automaton scene. White enamel, Breguet numerals, outer minute divisions, winding apertures for going and musical/automaton trains. Gold "arrowhead" hands. Notes This piece represents one of the earliest applications of the invention of Antoine Favre, presented in 1796 to the Geneva Société des Arts, for a "carillon without bells playing two tunes and imitating the sound of the Mandolin, enclosed within a snuffbox of ordinary size", in which vibrating tuned blades replaced the much more bulky and fragile carillon bells.This invention was to revolutionize musical horology and the art of making objets de vertu in Geneva. It appears, however, that Favre only re-invented vibrating blades, which were presented in 1769 by Michel Joseph Ransonnet of Nancy to the French Academy of Sciences. Their "re-invention" by Favre possibly saved the Genevan horological industry from a period of stagnation due to the French occupation, high taxes, and the English embargo.The invention did not make Favre wealthy. By 1799 he was losing his eyesight, and asked the Société des Arts to loan him 36 Louis. Sad as it was from a human point of view, Favre's colleagues prospered greatly from his invention. The fi rst to grasp the tremendous potenti
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2011-10-23
