23,750 CHF
GOLD SEALING WAX CASE WATCH WITH CONCEALED EROTIC SCENE French. Paris discharge marks of Jean Baptiste Fouache for 1774-80. Very fine and very rare, Louis XVI, gold, painted on enamel and gilt brass sealing-wax case, set with semi-precious and paste stones, with a miniature watch and concealed erotic enameled scene. Gilded metal body with floral and foliate decoration in relief, two sides with applied silver decoration set with multi-colored stones, hinged two-body varicolored gold top houses the watch, the back set with a painted on enamel portrait of a lady, the bottom of the case set with a dendritic (moss) agate oval panel on one side and a painted portrait medallion of a lady within a frame of ruby-colored stones on the other, the medallion can be rotated revealing a potentially incandescent erotic scene between the lady and a gentleman. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer dot minute divisions, five-minute Arabic numerals. Gold Louis XVI hands. Oval, 21.5 x 18 mm., built on three levels, brass, cylindrical pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, plain three-arm brass balance with flat spring, mounted between the third and fourth plate. Notes DIM. LENGTH 148 mm., WIDTH 19 mm. A charming Objet de Luxe from the reign of LOUIS XVI. It is rare to find such a small watch in an object made pre-1800. The concealed erotic scene is revealed by swiveling the small portrait of a lady at the base of the body. This object was made to contain a block of sealing wax use Read more…
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2015-03-15
