49,560 CHF
“Country Scene” Frères Nicole, Geneva, No. 11556, circa 1840. Very fine large silver gilt musical snuffbox decorated with painting on canvas, playing three tunes. Accompanied by leather fitted box. To be sold without reserve Three-body, rectangular, the hinged lid revealing a compartment decorated with a landscape painted on canvas with protective glass, bezel chased in floral and foliate pattern, engine-turned side panels and base, right panel with a melody switch, activating button in the front. 96 x 55 mm, pinned cylinder type with a comb of 74 tuned vibrating blades, two-arm fly worm-gear governor, tune-changing by means of a cam acting directly on a spring-loaded cylinder. Signed on the comb in typical Nicole manner. Dim. 115 x 92 x 40 mm. Property of a Swiss Gentleman Notes Such large musical snuffboxes were rare at the time; equally rare is the painted on canvas decoration. Frères Nicole Watchmakers and makers of musical pieces who later became specialized in musical pieces and musical boxes. 1828-1844. They signed a petition for the construction of a new Observatory in Geneva in 1829. Their recorded addresses are: Etuves 130, rue du Cendrier, passage des Bergues (1831) and passage du Cendrier 118 bis (1844). “Dictionnaire des Horlogers Genevois, by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum Editions, 1998. “Dictionnaire des Horlogers Genevois, by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum Editions, 1998.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-11-12
