103rd Auction
2020/11/7
Lot 250
William Anthony, London, Case No. 1871, 64 mm, 179 g, circa 1800
An important gold enamel pocket watch of museum quality with duplex pin lever escapement, centre seconds with half seconds jump and 7 days power reserve, studded with half pearls; produced for the Chinese market
Case: 18k gold and polychrome enamel, circular. Dial: enamel. Movm.: bridge movement, keywind, gilt, elaborately florally engraved, large going barrel, five-arm steel balance.
Pendant, stem, bow and the bezels on front and back are decorated with lustrous half pearls. An exquisitely painted enamel medallion on the back is framed by a fine border of gold and white enamel on engine-turned ground with translucent cobalt blue enameling. The delicate miniature shows Hector’s farewell to his wife Andromache and their son Astyanax. The motif is taken from the sixth book of Homer’s Iliad, while the medallion is painted after an etching by Luigi Schiavonetti (1765-1810) dating from 1790, which was inspired by a painting by Angelika Kauffmann (1741-1807).
Even though the enamel painting is not signed, it is fairly obviously Lissignol’s work. The extremely fine strokes of the brush - made by a single hair - in combination with the pointillistic technique are typical for his work. Jean-Abraham Lissignol was born in Geneva in 1749. He was the pupil and partner of Jean-Marc Roux and later was apprenticed in Paris. He was one of the most important enamel miniature painters and was specialised on snuffboxes and watch cases. He worked for Jaquet-Droz, Leschot, Rochat, John Rich and Jean-Georges Rémond & Company He died in Plainpalais in 1819.
William Anthony (1765-1844) had his workshop in Red Lion Street, St. John's Square in Clerkenwell, where he produced high-quality ornamental watches for the Chinese market. He created distinctive pieces with oval dials and expanding hands that adjusted automatically to the changing radius of the oval dial. Anthony was a successful businessman and played an important role in the foundation of the Watch- and Clockmakers' Benevolent Association in 1815; after a failed lawsuit and an unsuccessful attempt at an exhibition, however, he suffered some heavy losses. William Anthony died a poor man in 1844 because he had forgotten to collect the rents from the tenants in his properties for years.
Source: G.H. Baillie "Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World", Vol. I, Edinburgh/London, 1947, p. 7 and Terence Camerer-Cuss / Osvaldo Patrizzi "The Sandberg Watch Collection", Geneva 1998, p. 268.
Watches by William Anthony very rarely appear on the market. From a study of the public collections and the auction market over the last 50 years we learn that only 17 oval watches (from which 6 with expanding hands) and 15 round watches are known to exist.
An important gold enamel pocket watch of museum quality with duplex pin lever escapement, centre seconds with half seconds jump and 7 days power reserve, studded with half pearls; produced for the Chinese market
Case: 18k gold and polychrome enamel, circular. Dial: enamel. Movm.: bridge movement, keywind, gilt, elaborately florally engraved, large going barrel, five-arm steel balance.
Pendant, stem, bow and the bezels on front and back are decorated with lustrous half pearls. An exquisitely painted enamel medallion on the back is framed by a fine border of gold and white enamel on engine-turned ground with translucent cobalt blue enameling. The delicate miniature shows Hector’s farewell to his wife Andromache and their son Astyanax. The motif is taken from the sixth book of Homer’s Iliad, while the medallion is painted after an etching by Luigi Schiavonetti (1765-1810) dating from 1790, which was inspired by a painting by Angelika Kauffmann (1741-1807).
Even though the enamel painting is not signed, it is fairly obviously Lissignol’s work. The extremely fine strokes of the brush - made by a single hair - in combination with the pointillistic technique are typical for his work. Jean-Abraham Lissignol was born in Geneva in 1749. He was the pupil and partner of Jean-Marc Roux and later was apprenticed in Paris. He was one of the most important enamel miniature painters and was specialised on snuffboxes and watch cases. He worked for Jaquet-Droz, Leschot, Rochat, John Rich and Jean-Georges Rémond & Company He died in Plainpalais in 1819.
William Anthony (1765-1844) had his workshop in Red Lion Street, St. John's Square in Clerkenwell, where he produced high-quality ornamental watches for the Chinese market. He created distinctive pieces with oval dials and expanding hands that adjusted automatically to the changing radius of the oval dial. Anthony was a successful businessman and played an important role in the foundation of the Watch- and Clockmakers' Benevolent Association in 1815; after a failed lawsuit and an unsuccessful attempt at an exhibition, however, he suffered some heavy losses. William Anthony died a poor man in 1844 because he had forgotten to collect the rents from the tenants in his properties for years.
Source: G.H. Baillie "Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World", Vol. I, Edinburgh/London, 1947, p. 7 and Terence Camerer-Cuss / Osvaldo Patrizzi "The Sandberg Watch Collection", Geneva 1998, p. 268.
Watches by William Anthony very rarely appear on the market. From a study of the public collections and the auction market over the last 50 years we learn that only 17 oval watches (from which 6 with expanding hands) and 15 round watches are known to exist.
estimated
60.000—120.000 €
Price realized
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