31,860 CHF
"Cabinet de Curiosité" Attributed to Eugène Bornand & Cie. , Sainte Croix. Made circa 1850. Very fine and extremely rare, gilt brass, 8-day going, musical automaton mantel clock in the “chinoiserie” style, with hour and half-hour striking, the rotunda scenes rotating on the hour or at will, rosewood base. Gilt brass, matte and burnished, rectangular with anthemion and acanthus leaf cornice and base, foliate and stylized dragon mounts, foliate feet and bezel, the top covered with velvet and mounted with a gilt bronze table with velvet cover, to each side a gilt bronze figure of a Chinese gentleman and lady gesturing to a gilt brass rotunda on the table, an aperture revealing one of six rotating mirrored apertures, some with quarter- models of architectural designs creating the illusion of seeing the whole building, the rotating scenes move one position at each hour, rosewood base with floral inlaid decoration to the front, musical control levers in the side. Notes Bornand The Bornand family, originally from Sainte Croix, Switzerland, was particularly known for its mechanical musical movements. One of its members, A. Bornand, was also a finisher of complicated and high quality watches toward the end of the 19th century. He was a “régleur” for the firm H. Capt. Eugène Bornand certainly another member of the Bornand dynasty, was recorded as working during the latter half of the 19th century. He is known, among other things, for enamel and gold pendant watches. Dictionnaire
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2007-05-13
