98th Auction

2018/11/10

Lot 558

French, 59 mm, 100 g, circa 1800
An unusual double-sided pocket watch from the time of the French Revolution, with visible balance, calendar, Debaufre escapement and painted motif "Victory of the French Revolution"
Case: silver. Dial: front: enamel. Back: enamel, visible balance. Movm.: bridge movement, keywind, going barrel, three-arm brass balance.
The face of the watch shows two dials: The traditional hours in the top half and a decimal calendar (30 days) in the lower half. Both dials sit in a marble monument painted in different hues of grey- and brown. The upper dial is flanked by two statues; on the left is the personification of the French Republic with a Phrygian cap (the symbol of freedom), a square (the symbol of equality) and the fasces (the symbol of justice). On the right is the goddess Minerva as a personification of victory, with a Phrygian cap on her spear.
The back is fully covered with polychrome painting and shows a bucolic scene by a river: on the left a shepherd fishing who raises his hand in a warning gesture; on the right, a huntsman is leaning on his rifle while he talks to a shepherdess. In the background a farm building with a flagpole is visible - on the flagpole sits again a Phrygian cap.
At the lower edge of the scene sits a dial with a Gregorian calendar with date (31 days) and days of the week in combination with their planetary symbols. The balance is visible at 12 o’clock.

estimated
22.00025.000 €
Price realized
-