96th Auction
2017/11/18
Lot 39
George Prior, London, Case No. 9852, Movement No. 9853, 57 mm, 171 g, circa 1820
An important, very fine gold enamel hour repeating pair-cased pocket watch with half hour / hour self strike studded with half-pearls - for the Ottoman market
Case: outer case - 18K gold, polychrome enamel. Inner case - 18K gold, rear bell, protective cap. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, 1 hammer, 2 barrels, cylinder escapement, three-arm brass balance.
The outer case with half-pearl set bezel and wavy edges is decorated with opaque light blue and translucent red Champlevé enamel. The partially open-worked back side has an exquisite enamel medallion: opaque polychrome painting of a bouquet of summer flowers against an azure blue ground, framed by a border of half-pearls. The inner case has a rear bell and is decorated with engraved decoration: acanthus foliage, flower medallions and a centred blossom.
The movement as well as case design of these watches intended for the Turkish market were already outmoded around 1820 - and even more so in later years; nevertheless George Prior and some of his contemporaries such as Edward Prior, George Charle, Markwick Markham-Perigal and Isaac Rogers specialized on this type of watch because there was a ongoing demand for them on the Turkish market - be it from tradition or from a true love of the elaborately ornamented movements and cases. It is quite possible that many of these watches - the one we have here is among them - never even left England, because their exotic beauty had its devotees in their own country too. Very often these buyers kept the watch safely in a drawer like jewellery, which explains the mint condition of some of these marvellous pieces - as it is the case with our watch.
George Prior, the son of John Prior of Nessfield, also a clockmaker, was a leading London maker of watches for the Turkish and Islamic markets, in association with Edward Prior, who was perhaps his brother. One two occasions he received an award from the Society of Arts for his productions.
Provenance: This watch was part of the Habsburg Feldmann sale in Geneva, April 10, 1988, lot 41/324.
An important, very fine gold enamel hour repeating pair-cased pocket watch with half hour / hour self strike studded with half-pearls - for the Ottoman market
Case: outer case - 18K gold, polychrome enamel. Inner case - 18K gold, rear bell, protective cap. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, 1 hammer, 2 barrels, cylinder escapement, three-arm brass balance.
The outer case with half-pearl set bezel and wavy edges is decorated with opaque light blue and translucent red Champlevé enamel. The partially open-worked back side has an exquisite enamel medallion: opaque polychrome painting of a bouquet of summer flowers against an azure blue ground, framed by a border of half-pearls. The inner case has a rear bell and is decorated with engraved decoration: acanthus foliage, flower medallions and a centred blossom.
The movement as well as case design of these watches intended for the Turkish market were already outmoded around 1820 - and even more so in later years; nevertheless George Prior and some of his contemporaries such as Edward Prior, George Charle, Markwick Markham-Perigal and Isaac Rogers specialized on this type of watch because there was a ongoing demand for them on the Turkish market - be it from tradition or from a true love of the elaborately ornamented movements and cases. It is quite possible that many of these watches - the one we have here is among them - never even left England, because their exotic beauty had its devotees in their own country too. Very often these buyers kept the watch safely in a drawer like jewellery, which explains the mint condition of some of these marvellous pieces - as it is the case with our watch.
George Prior, the son of John Prior of Nessfield, also a clockmaker, was a leading London maker of watches for the Turkish and Islamic markets, in association with Edward Prior, who was perhaps his brother. One two occasions he received an award from the Society of Arts for his productions.
Provenance: This watch was part of the Habsburg Feldmann sale in Geneva, April 10, 1988, lot 41/324.
estimated
26.000—36.000 €
Price realized
-