56,640 HKD
“The Flowers” Richard Baskerville, London, No. 2016. Made circa 1750. Very fine, 20K gold and painted on enamel pocket watch. Two-body, Louis XV, the back finely decorated with painted on enamel and champlevé flowers and foliage on a hatched chased ground, the bezel decorated en suite. 35 mm, hinged, frosted gilt full-plate with turned pillars, fusee and chain, cylinder escapement, three-arm steel balance with flat balance spring, pierced and chased balance cock with diamond endstone, silvered regulation dial. Movement signed. Diam. 45 mm. Notes Richard Baskerville Apprenticed in 1741 and free of the Clockmakers Company 1749 – 1772. A clock by him is in Bruges Cathedral. The case, dial and hands of the present watch were made in France around 1750. Very shortly after it was made, the watch must have been brought to England, where it was fitted with a movement by Richard Baskerville. Continental watches having fine cases were often fitted with movements by English makers. Usually these English movements, as in the present watch, have cylinder escapements, which were seen as an improvement on the standard verge movement.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-04-23
