97,750 CHF
“Manual Perpetual Calendar” Pierre de Montmain a Lyon. Made circa 1660. Very fine and rare, large, silver pendant watch with triple date. Two-body, split bezel with stiff-leaf decoration, loose ring pendant, profusely chased and engraved with summer flowers, shuttered winding hole. Silver dial plate chased and engraved with floral decoration matching the case, eccentric gilt brass chapter ring with radial Roman numerals and half-hour markers, date chapter above, apertures for the days of the week and months with their number of days. Blued steel hands. Hinged gilt brass full-plate with turned inverted baluster pillars, fusee with chain, verge escapement, plain small two-arm blued steel balance without spring, pierced and engraved irregular footed balance cock secured by a screw, backplate furniture, blued steel wheel and click spring. Movement signed. Diam. 55 mm. Notes The present lot was previously sold by Antiquorum Geneva, on October 31, 1998, lot 470. Pierre de Montmain (1632 - 1669) The son of the elder Pierre de Montmain, he worked on the Rue de Flandre in Lyon. In 1655 he married Anne Guiger. Tulipomania Tulip cases, pendants, hands, and engravings, were evidence of the so-called “tulipomania”. Evans, in his "History of Jewelry", as quoted by Dr. Hans Boeckh, states: "Gesner saw the first tulip in flower in Augsburg in 1559 and published the first picture of it in 1561. It took 75 years for the flower to conquer Europe". In 1593, botanist Carolus Clusius bro
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2005-10-16
