Lot 28

A. Lange & Söhne Glashütte B/Dresden, Movement No. 25202, Case No. 25202, 38 mm, 54 g, circa 1886
A lady's glamorous, extremely rare Glashuette quarter repeating half hunting case watch for the spouse of merchant and city councillor Willy Blank in Elberfeld, Christmas 1886
Case: 18k pink gold. Dial: enamel. Movm.: 4/5 plate movement, gold screw compensation balance.
This lady's delicate watch in a finely chased case is in excellent condition. According to the Lange & Söhne factory books it was sold in 1886 for the sum of 770 marks.
Selma de Weerth (1854-1929) was like her husband Wilhelm (Willy) Blank (1847-1907) a native of Elberfeld, which is part of the city of Wuppertal today; they married in 1877. Willy Blank's father, merchant Johann Wilhelm Jakob Blank (1821-1892) was a school friend of Friedrich Engels, who was born in Barmen (today also part of Wuppertal) and attended the grammar school in Elberfeld. It is likely that the families Blank and de Weerth were related.
Willy Blank was regarded as an outstanding personality in Elberfeld. He was a city councillor and member of parliament and held a number of other offices in managing and supervisory boards for over 25 years until his death in 1907. The families Blank and de Weerth were also active in honorary positions and made large donations to the Protestant Church. The Blankstrasse in Wuppertal runs past a plot of land the de Weerth family placed at the disposal of the church so that housing for the poor could be built. The tomb of Selma and Willy Blank was moved to the vicinity of the local convent in 1996 and today serves as a memorial for this important Elberfeld family.

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