The Lion’s Revenge Bovet

The Lion’s Revenge Bovet, Fleurier, No. 901, the enamel attributed to P.-Amédée Champod. Made for the Chinese market, circa 1870. Very fine, large, silver-gilt, painted on enamel and pearl-set center-seconds pocket watch with Jacot duplex escapement. Accompanied by a Bovet key. Three-body, “Empire”, the back painted on enamel with a lion attacking a hunter, another on a white horse shoots at the attacking lion in a landscape, an elephant with further hunters in the background, pearl-set bezels, pendant and bow. Spring-loaded glazed giltrimmed cuvette. White enamel, narrow radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions and Arabic 15-minute numerals. Blued steel ovoid hands. 54 mm, fully engraved gilt Chinese caliber, free-standing barrel, Jacot duplex escapement, three-arm steel balance with blued steel “wings”, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator. Case and movement signed Bovet in Chinese characters. Diam. 62 mm. Notes The present watch is a fine example of the Indian hunting scenes painted with such vigor by Champod. This particular scene is unusual in the genre because it depicts a lion instead of the more commonly seen tiger. For a discussion of watches made for the Chinese market, see: Antiquorum, Hong Kong, November 25, 2006, pages 196 - 201. P.-Amédée Champod Along with John Graff, Champod was one of the most celebrated enamel painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, specializing in hunting scenes. In his autobiography, which has been preser