95th Auction
2017/5/6
Lot 103
Jean-Baptiste-André Furet, Hger. du Roi à Paris, Movement No. 1760, 48 mm, 81 g, circa 1785
A fine French gold enamel verge pocket watch with matching winding key studded with lapis lazuli and heliotrope
Case: 14k gold/polychrome enamel. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, three-arm brass balance.
The back of this pocket watch in excellent condition shows an exquisite enamel painting: a young woman in period costume and with a rose in her hand plays with a little boy on a riverbank, all on a bright blue ground. The medallion is framed by a narrow gold border. The bezels on front and back are decorated with opaque and translucent Champlevé enamel.
Jean-Baptiste-André Furet (1720-1807) came from a renowned watchmaking family; he worked in his father’s workshop from 1746 to approximately 1749 and then in the Rue Saint-Honoré. In 1783 he was awarded the position of Horloger ordinaire du Roi pour sa bibliothèque. Late in 1785 Furet got into financial difficulties and finally went bankrupt in 1786, after a number of legal disputes and trials. His remarkable inventory contained 98 pendulum clocks, 154 other clocks and 33 movements worth a total of nearly 100,000 livres. Among the clocks was the famous Pendule Negresse, a gift from Marie-Antoinette to her son, the future King Louis XVII. Today Furet‘s work can be seen in important museums such as the Louvre in Paris and the Royal Collections in London.
A fine French gold enamel verge pocket watch with matching winding key studded with lapis lazuli and heliotrope
Case: 14k gold/polychrome enamel. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, three-arm brass balance.
The back of this pocket watch in excellent condition shows an exquisite enamel painting: a young woman in period costume and with a rose in her hand plays with a little boy on a riverbank, all on a bright blue ground. The medallion is framed by a narrow gold border. The bezels on front and back are decorated with opaque and translucent Champlevé enamel.
Jean-Baptiste-André Furet (1720-1807) came from a renowned watchmaking family; he worked in his father’s workshop from 1746 to approximately 1749 and then in the Rue Saint-Honoré. In 1783 he was awarded the position of Horloger ordinaire du Roi pour sa bibliothèque. Late in 1785 Furet got into financial difficulties and finally went bankrupt in 1786, after a number of legal disputes and trials. His remarkable inventory contained 98 pendulum clocks, 154 other clocks and 33 movements worth a total of nearly 100,000 livres. Among the clocks was the famous Pendule Negresse, a gift from Marie-Antoinette to her son, the future King Louis XVII. Today Furet‘s work can be seen in important museums such as the Louvre in Paris and the Royal Collections in London.
Sold
estimated
3.000—6.000 €
Price realized
2.100 €