The Barking DogJ

The Barking DogJ. D. Piguet & P. Meylan, Geneva, No. 146, enamel attributed to Jean-François-Victor Dupont, circa 1815, made for the Chinese market.Extremely rare and very fine 18K gold, pearl-set, painted on enamel, quarter-repeating "barking dog" automaton watch. Accompanied by a wooden box. Eccentric, set at the top of dark blue transucent enamel engine-turned plate, white enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions. Blued steel Breguet hands. Lower part with applied varicolored gold and silver automaton scene of a dog barking at a swan, which appears to be hissing back, the dog moves its head with each movement of the bellows, all in a wetland with the swan standing on a small piece of grass over water. Notes The watch repeats the hours and quarters with the barking of a dog; the rarest and most amusing form of repeating. The scene is after a painting by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) "Swan Attacked by a Dog", a theme which he treated several times in the 1740's. Of the approximately twenty known barking dog watches, this appears to be the most elaborate.The quality of the enamel painting on the back indicates that it was done by a very skilful and experienced artist, while the softness of the composition, the man's posture, the shape of his hand as he puts his arm around the lady, are all characteristic of Dupont. In The Sandberg Watch Collection (Antiquorum, March 31 and April 1, 2001, No. 418) there was a watch with a similar enamel panel, signed