509,500 CHF
Unsigned, No. 103, attributable to Piguet & Capt, Geneva, circa 1810. Extremely rare and magnificent 18K gold and enamel, diamond-set quarter repeating, musical fan with automaton scene and built-in centre second watch. Notes Provenance: Francois, Prince de Joinville (1818-1900); his son, Prince d ' Orlcans, Duc de Penthievre (1845-1919); ,his daughter, Jeanne Lehesgue (born 1879); her son, Rene Lebesgue; his wife, Yvonne Lehesgue, nee Maellec; thence by gift to the present owner. Three other examples only of gold and enamel fans with built-in watch and musical train are known to exist. One in the collection of Sir David Salomons, it is described and illustrated by George Daniels and Ohannes Markarian in Watches and Clocks in the Sir David Salmons Collection, Sotheby Publications, pp. 168-169, No. 99. The second, Formerly in the collection of Eing Farouk of Egypt was included in the Palace Collections Sale in 1954 as lot 609 (Sotheby ' s Catalogue) and subsequently sold by Antiquornm on October 16th, 1994, lot No. 615. The third, enamelled in red with split-pearl decoration and containing a quarter repeating watch with music, is described by Roy Mosoriak in The Curious History of Musical Boxes, Chicago, 1943, pl. 11, pp. 66-67. The present example appears to be the most complicated, incorporating an automaton scene, driven by the musical train.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
1997-10-18
