135,700 HKD
“The Flower Gatherers – Mirror Image Pair” Courvoisier Frères, Swiss, No. 75246 & No. 75249. Made for the Chinese market, circa 1890. Very fine and rare, small, mirror image pair of 18K yellow gold and painted on enamel lady’s keyless pendant watches. Both, four-body with scalloped edge engraved with formal decoration, the cover enamel panels with symmetrical scenes, each depicting a boy in a landscape holding a basket of flowers, one painted over a dark blue guilloché ground, the other against a pink guilloché ground; both enamel back panels painted with a composition of summer flowers over a powder blue ground. Hinged gold cuvette. Both, white enamel with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, red outer Arabic five-minute numerals, subsidiary seconds. Gold paste-set fancy hands. Identical 12’’’, gilt brass, both with 17 jewels, straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring. Signed on the dials and movements, Chinese signature inside the covers. Diam. 36 mm. Notes Courvoisier Frères. Were very innovative and important makers of the mid 19th century. Their carriage clocks are considered to be among the best produced in Switzerland at the time. Their striking was typically Swiss, quite different than most French clocks. The company was founded in 1770 by J. Robert, who went into partnership with his son-in-law Louis Courvoisier. Along with Jaquet-Droz, they were the most important makers of musical clocks. In
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-04-23
