The Collection of a Connoisseur 掌上的百年風華: 鐘錶及裝飾藝術收藏
The Collection of a Connoisseur 掌上的百年風華: 鐘錶及裝飾藝術收藏
FRÈRES ROCHAT | A MAGNIFICENT AND EXCEPTIONALLY RARE GOLD AND ENAMEL SINGING BIRD WATCH MADE FOR THE TURKISH MARKET CIRCA 1820, NO. 268
Auction Closed
July 14, 12:35 PM GMT
Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
FRÈRES ROCHAT
A MAGNIFICENT AND EXCEPTIONALLY RARE GOLD AND ENAMEL SINGING BIRD WATCH MADE FOR THE TURKISH MARKET
CIRCA 1820, NO. 268
gilded movement, cylinder escapement, plain three-arm gold balance, stamped FR within an oval cartouche for Frères Rochat, the singing bird mechanism pump wound via the pendant and with locking slide to inner bezel within case back, the bellows and bird song controlled via a sliding stack of eight cams, the top four controlling the singing valves stepped through four revolutions per play, further fixed cams for controlling the movement of the bird, white enamel dial, Turkish numerals and outer minute ring, dial signed Breguet et Fils, gold case, bezels decorated with opaque turquoise and translucent red guilloché enamel, the pendant and bow decorated en suite, case back with polychrome enamel painted scene of battleships exchanging fire with a town to the foreground and mountains against a setting sun in the background, the band and bezels further enamelled with flowers and foliage, the case back opening to reveal a fixed cuvette with central hinged circular panel polychrome enamel painted with trophies of music against a translucent pink guilloché enamel ground, the panel opening upon depression of the pendant to reveal a bird-shaped reserve surrounded by a gold plate enamelled with a blue feather design, the singing bird rising from the reserve with vibrantly coloured plumage, the surrounding cuvette with polychrome enamel painted floral wreath upon an opaque turquoise enamel ground and outer translucent red guilloché enamel wave-form border, inside case back polychrome enamel painted with trophies of war against a translucent red guilloché enamel ground, bordered with opaque white and turquoise enamel, case maker's mark DB within a lozenge for Dupont & Bonnet
diameter 63mm
The Time Museum, Rockford, Il., Inventory no. A5
Sotheby's New York, Masterpieces from the Time Museum, 2 December 1999, lot 31
Current private collection, purchased from the above auction
Britten's Old Clocks & Watches and their Makers, Revised and enlarged 9th Edition, Bloomsbury, 1989, p.101 & pl.IV
Jim Arnfield, Longitude Symposium Tour, Horological Journal, January 1994, p.234
The mechanical singing bird is one of the most captivating of all automata, those produced by the firm of Frères Rochat are renowned for their exceptional quality, realistic bodily movements and the mellifluous tone of their song. The firm worked with the finest case makers who housed their automata in exquisite gold cases, richly adorned with decorative enamel panels and polychrome painted scenes which might be further embellished with pearls and other precious materials. The horologer David Rochat (1746-1812) of Le Brassus in the Vallée du Joux worked at the end of the 18th century with his three sons Jacques François Elisée (1771-1836), David Frédéric Henri (1774-1848) and Samuel Henri (1777-1854), supplying the firm of Jaquet-Droz & Leschot with singing bird parts and also spending some time at Frédéric Leschot’s workshop in Geneva. Jaqeut-Droz’s chief singing bird specialist was Jacob Frisard. Frisard is generally believed to have been responsible for inventing the whistle and sliding piston that enabled the miniaturization of the singing bird automaton. David Rochat and his sons were perfectly positioned to learn the design and construction of Jaquet Droz and Leschot’s singing bird movements, and the brothers would go on to set up an independent business in Geneva (which later included members of their extended family), to produce singing bird movements of outstanding quality. The present watch’s case carries the stamp DB for Dupont & Bonnet, gold watch case makers who worked in Geneva from 1812 until 1822. They first entered this mark around 1812 and re-registered it on 17 October 1815. Dupont & Bonnet’s workshop was in the Maison Sessel at 7 Rue de Cornavin. According to the registers, the firm went into liquidation and their mark was expunged on 1 October 1822.
Singing bird automata are more usually found within the larger dimensions of snuff boxes or within exotic bird cages. Examples of watches incorporating singing birds are extremely rare, especially those featuring the complex arrangement of a bird rising from within the case, as found on the present watch. Simpler versions of the complication exist, including birds on full view either singing in a cage that is mounted to a watch’s dial or perched on a branch fitted to the dial. Another example of a watch containing a singing bird rising from within the watch’s case can be found at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; the latter watch is signed Hillaire Bassereau and is illustrated in A. Chapuis, E. Droz, Automata, 1958, p.202, fig. 245.