Important English gold and enamel verge watch Circa 1640

Gold enamelled ladies’ watch by Henry Grendon
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An important English gold and enamel open faced verge pocket watch, circa 1640. Full plate movement, gut and fusee, a blued overhead ratchet and two arm iron balance. White enamel dial with radial Roman hours, a central polychrome enamel portrait of a courtly lady and a single iron hand. A polychrome enamel scene on the case back showing a picnic, cartouches with landscape scenes on the band, the inside painted with a castle in the middle of a park. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 32 mm
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Weight: 29 g
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Signed: Henry Grendon London
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Though the signature is English, one would not expect an enameller of this period to be English. Most enamelled watch cases in the 17th century were imported from France and fitted with English movements.
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What makes this piece so extraordinary are the motifs of the enamel work. They are purely secular, i.e. not religious or classical subjects based on existing prints or paintings. The lady on the dial could be a portrait. Pouring wine is associated with lust and sex in mythology, so it could also have been used accordingly here, the two older ladies are portrayed by the young man served. The enamel work itself is rather simple in style and uses only a limited colour palette. This could indicate that it is either a very early work or that the enameller did not have access to the oxides available in the hotbeds of enamel art such as Paris and Blois. The women’s hats are a bit overloaded for the time, however, a similar depiction was found in a portrait of Van Dyke. There are virtually no records of enamel painters of this period working in England other than Petitot, so it is assumed that the work was carried out in England.
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Henry Grendon was an early watchmaker who worked in the Royal Exchange, London from 1633 to around 1655. He became a member of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1640. Another clock by Grendon can be found in the Royal Collection in London, this is a rock crystal cased watch, a gift to Jane Lane from King Charles II in recognition of her bravery and ingenuity after the Battle of Worcester in 1651.