Rare silver and gilt-metal octagonal verge watch Circa 1630

Gilt brass pocket watch by James Vautrollier
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Gilt brass octagonal full plate movement with decoratively engraved border, verge escapement, pierced and floral engraved pinned on cock, flat steel balance, ratchet and click set-up, fusee and gut line, round baluster pillars. Full plate fire gilt metal dial plate, the centre with engraved townscape scene with mountains in the background, the edge with engraved floral border and an angel’s head above 12 o’clock, applied silvered chapter ring with Roman numerals, blued steel hand. The Centre of the hinged front cover has the engraved figure of Chronos with an hourglass in front of an advancing crowd, the facets to the inside with an engraved floral wreath, the hinged back cover depicting Pluto carrying Prosperine away, the inside back cover plain, the band with panels arranged in pairs and within the foliage, each with a dolphin, accompanied by an owl, a hare and a bird and two reclining figures to the central side panels, decorative pendant, and finial to the base of the case.

The central panel of the case depicts Chronos Father Time progressing across the sky, holding his hourglass in front of an advancing crowd, one with a crutch – a solemn reminder that Time waits for no man. The surrounding panels are engraved in pairs, and a dolphin accompanied by an owl, a hare, and a bird resides within the foliage, each allegory of Wisdom, Salvation and the Soul, respectively. The darker side of the main theme is, appropriately, on the silverback cover: Pluto – more properly named Hades – is seen carrying off a reluctant Prosperine to his lower kingdom. The surrounding panels are the same as those on the front, and the silver band is engraved with foliage and recumbent nudes.
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Diameter: 49 mm
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Signed: Ja. Vautrollier Fecit
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Vautrollier was active between 1622 and 1641. He was one of the 1622 Clockmakers’ Company Charter petitioners and became a court assistant when the Charter was granted in 1631. He was made a Freeman of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1632. Examples of watches by James Vautrollier can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.