Live Auction: 14 July 2020 • 10:30 AM BST • London
O ffering a fascinating insight into important social and cultural moments in history, this exciting collection spanning two centuries presents exceptional enamels, rare automata, watches, gold boxes and objects of vertu with aristocratic and Royal provenance. Highlighting the highest technical horological skills and the most elaborate enameling, this collection will excite connoisseurs who are seeking rarely seen horological treasures and extraordinary objects of vertu from the late 18th century to the early 20th century.
Featured Highlights
Mechanical Treasures for Exotic Markets
Swiss makers were responsible for the ingenious automata created in the last years of the 18th century and the first of the 19th century. These expensive novelties invented for the far-away markets of China, India and the Ottoman Empire were not only technical masterpieces, so well-constructed that they are still in working order 200 years later, but were enclosed in cases of the finest gold and jewelled, enamelled and painted by the best artists.
Exquisite and Intricate Timepieces
The pocket watches in the collection display exquisite craftsmanship on many levels. Lustrously enamelled pieces open to reveal delightful mechanical surprises. Musical timepieces demonstrate the technological skill of their makers. Complicated Swiss automatons complement innovative pieces by iconic makers such as Breguet and William Anthony. Several pieces in the collection also have Royal provenance to add to their appeal.
A History of Hardstone: Fashionable and Fanciful Accessories
The objets d’art in this thoughtfully assembled collection demonstrate the collector’s fascination for hardstones, mounted as precious and curious objects, over the course of two and a half centuries, covering different countries of manufactures and purposes.
- 1770
- 1770
- 1775
- 1850
- 1870
- 1910
- 1925
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A jewelled and gold-mounted hardstone appliqué portrait snuff box, probably Berlin, circa 1770Not only local hardstones, but also those from far away were selected for these applique snuff boxes made by Berlin and Dresden goldsmiths in the 1770s, such as the Egyptian porphyry which serves as the colourful backdrop for the naturalistic flowers, onyx bees and other insects. Chosen for their vivid colours rather than for their precious value, the hardstones appear to have been used to paint a picture with natural materials rather than with actual paint, which in contrast can be seen in the painted portrait miniature in the centre of this box.
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A gold-mounted hardstone necessaire in the manner of James Cox, English, circa 1770One of the earliest mounted hardstone examples in this collection is the necessaire of banded agate with intricately chased implements and set with a watch, combining several functions. These agate necessaires were produced for both the domestic market and the far eastern markets, linking it to several other top lots in this astonishing collection.
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A gold, hardstone and enamel snuff box, Johann Christian Neuber, Dresden, circa 1775Only about five years later, Dresden court jeweller Johann Christian Neuber, who often used locally mined hardstones from Saxony for his precious souvenirs for wealthy foreign tourists, created this complicatedly inlaid snuff box of carnelian, bloodstones and simulated pearls, whose technique still challenges scholars as much as it delights collectors until this day.
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A hardstone centrepiece on gold-mounted and enamelled silver-gilt stand, Jean-Valentin Morel, London, 1850, signed 'Morel & Cie. à Londres’A very similar example to this centerpiece was exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851, after which the celebrated goldsmith Jean-Valentin Morel soon became best known for his mounted objects combining Historismus elements with hardstones, colourfully enamelled putti, mythological figures, and beasts, making him one of the most important artists representing the eclectic 19th century.
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A hardstone appliqué snuff box with gold mounts, probably German, late 19th centuryColourful flowers decorate the lid and sides of this charming gold-mounted agate snuff box, representing the 19th century revival of applied hardstone boxes made in Germany in previous century (see lot 6). The agate butterfly on the lid is a reference to the work of the Berlin-based goldsmith Hofmann, and the present lot demonstrates how the fascination for semi-precious stones of different origin lasted during the 19th century and well into the century to come.
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A French gold-mounted agate seal, circa 1910Not only was hardstone used for snuff boxes, etuis and necessaires, but naturally only for another category of objects of Vertu – seals. While the one of milky agate in the present lot is a 20th century example, agate, jasper, bloodstone or quartz were often used for precious gold-mounted desk or swivel seals from the 18th century, their carnelian or other hardstone matrices engraved with coats of arms or crests.
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A jewelled hardstone cigarette case, Strauss, Allard & Meyer, Paris, circa 1925In the 1920s, when cigarette cases, powder compacts and other etuis were the ‘craze of the moment’, hardstones were often combined with jewels and selected for their distinct colours to contrast other popular materials such as lacquer, coral, or mother-of-pearl. These glamorous objects soon became a collectible in their own right and accompanied the lady of taste during parties and soirees, soon after smoking had become fashionable.
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