55,200 CHF
Summer Bouquet Just & Son, London, No. 2170. Made for the Chinese market, circa 1860. Very fine, 18K gold, painted on enamel and pearlset center-seconds pocket watch with duplex escapement. Two-body, the back finely painted on enamel with a bouquet of early summer flowers including peonies, tulips and chrysanthemums against a translucent green guilloché enamel ground, the bezels, pendant, and bow set with split pearls, engraved band. Gold cuvette hinged to the movement ring, with engraved border. Convex white enamel, radial narrow Roman numerals, outer minute/ seconds divisions with fifteen-minute/seconds Arabic numerals. Gold ovoid hands. 48 mm, gilt Chinese caliber fully engraved, standing barrel, jeweled duplex escapement, three-arm steel balance with blued steel segments, blued steel flat balance-spring, diamond endstone, index regulator. Movement signed. Diam. 59 mm. Notes Flowers have great symbolic importance for the Chinese. By their form, aspect, and fragrance, they are considered to be highly spiritual, reflecting the profound nature of the Chinese people. Poems and proverbs show the cultural importance of flowers: “There is no flower without beauty in the world”; “A flower gives us a glimpse of paradise”. Certain flowers have a particular significance. The lotus symbolizes purity, the chrysanthemum perseverance, the plum blossom integrity, etc. The peony, with its generous forms, brilliant colors, and heady fragrance, became the most important flower for the
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2009-11-14
