Lot 49

Jacques Duduict à Blois, 80 mm, 496 g, circa 1640
An important, one-handed, early and rare, pre-balance hour striking verge coach watch with alarm
Case: brass, firegilt, pierced edges, decorated with finely hand-engraved flower tendrils, rear bell. Dial: brass, firegilt, the rim and centre with finely engraved floral and foliage decoration, central rotating alarm ring with engraved Arabic numerals and foliage engraved arms, single blued steel hand. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, lavishly florally engraved barrel for striking train, additional barrel for alarm, 2 hammers, verge escapement, iron balance without balance spring.
In the 350 years since its creation, this timepiece has always been well looked after and is – considering its age – in excellent condition. The dial is immaculate and owes its current state to the cover, which is a rather unusual feature in a carriage watch.
The engraved floral ornamentation of the pierced case rim is exquisite and very typical for the Blois area in France in the early 17th century. During the 16th and 17th century the French royal court often resided in Blois, which made the city a hub of the arts attracting a great number of skilled craftsmen and artists; at the time, many excellent enamel painters and watch- and clockmakers lived in or near Blois.
Watchmaker Jacques Duduict (1599-1645) was a native of Blois who specialized in the making of solar watches. In 1631 he published a printed paper titled "Le Nouveau Sciataire" about the production of solar watches allowing the determination of the meridian and the height of the pole on sea.
An oval-shaped pendant watch with enamel ornamentation, strike and alarm by Jacques Duduict from the Soltykoff collection features a similar dial and is illustrated and described in F.J. Britten’s "Old Clocks and Watches & Their Makers", London 1977, p. 75, Figs. 65 and 66 and in Tardy’s "Dictionaire des horlogers Francais", 1972, pages 197 and 198.

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