519,200 HKD
“Mirror Image Pair – Flower Urns” Swiss (Fleurier). Made for the Chinese market, circa 1860. Very fine and very rare, mirror-image pair of silver gilt, painted on enamel and pearl-set pocket watches with center seconds, duplex escapements and fitted box. Three-body, “Empire”, reeded band, back painted on enamel with a classical urn filled with summer flowers, flower border, translucent red enamel ground over wavy-line engine-turning, pearl-set bezels, pendant and bow. Silver-gilt spring-loaded cuvette. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute/seconds divisions with fifteen-minute/seconds Arabic numerals. Gold “spoon” hands. 47 mm, fully chased and engraved, "Chinese" caliber with standing barrel, 8 jewels, duplex escapement, steel three-arm balance with blued steel wings, blued steel flat balance-spring, index regulator. Movement and cuvette signed with Chinese characters. Diam. 56 mm. Property of a North American Collector Notes Although most of the watches and snuffboxes with automata destined for the Chinese market were made in pairs, the majority of them were later separated. It is very rare to find a pair still together. For a discussion on watches for the Chinese market see: Antiquorum, Hong Kong, November 11, 2006, p. 196-201.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-06-02
