90th Auction

2014/11/15

Lot 167

Piguet & Meylan / "GRC" (Jean-Georges Rémond à Genève), 66 x 46 x 15 mm, circa 1810
A very fine and very rare Swiss gold enamel musical box shaped as a purse
Case: 18k gold, case maker's punch mark "GRC" (Jean Georges Rémond & Cie à Genève) and third standard gold mark Geneva 1809-1814.
Satchel-shaped, the hinged lid and the back engine-turned with floral pattern and translucent cobalt blue and black enamelled, framed by a Champlevé border of blue and white flowers and gold foliage on a black ground. The waved rim of the lid set with half pearls, the stylized clasp with half pearls and turquoises; engraved ornaments: a gold laurel wreath and floral foliate. The sides engine-turned with an ozier pattern. Slide for activating the musical movement, the base with winding aperture. Movm.: Piguet & Meylan's double sided pinned-disc musical mechanism (sur plateau) of excellent quality with 16 vibrating blades acting on both sides of the disc, marked "P&M" ("Piguet & Meylan"), two-arm governor.
Jean-Georges Rémond
Jean-Georges Rémond was a goldsmith in Geneva and is recorded to have worked from 1783 until 1815 or 1820. He first used his master’s mark in 1783, when he became a master on December 22. He presumably formed the company Georges Rémond & Cie. seven years later; around 1800 the company was renamed Rémond, Mercier, Lamy & Cie. During the French occupation of Switzerland by Napoleon Rémond used his initials within a lozenge as his mark, which was in accordance with the stipulations of the newly formed Département du Léman. A similar design without the lozenge was used by the company Lamy, Rémond, Mercier, Daniel Berton from 1815 to 1829. In 1820 a new company Mercier, Blondel and Berton was established, so it is assumed that Rémond retired or died around that time. The new company only lasted for another seven years though and ceased to operate on April 14, 1827.
J.D. Piguet et S. Meylan à Genève
Piguet was an expert craftsman who produced his watches in partnership with Henry Capt and Philippe Samuel Meylan, and later also with his sons. Philippe Samuel Meylan came to Geneva at the age of 20 to work for Audemars Frères. He opened his own workshop near Le Brassus in 1811, but returned to Geneva later. He met Piguet and formed the partnership with him; they worked in Geneva under the name "Piguet & Meylan" from 1811 to 1828. The company became famous for its pocket watches with special functions; they created automatons with man and animal shapes and intricate musical mechanisms as well as skeleton watches.

Sold

estimated
40.00050.000 €
Price realized
48.400 €