Very fine and rare repeater for the Chinese market Circa 1815

Attractive watch with enamel miniature after Jean-Honoré Fragonard
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A very fine, rare and attractive Swiss 18 carat gold, enamel and pearl set quarter repeating cylinder watch with enamel miniature after Jean-Honoré Fragonard made for the Chinese market,
circa 1815. Gilt finished keywound cylinder movement, quarter repeating on two hammers onto two gongs. Finely chased and engraved polychrome champlevé enamel floral and geometrical decorated cuvette. White enamel dial with Roman numerals and center seconds. Case with split pearl set bezels, polychrome champlevé enamel and pearl set floral decorated band, pendant and bow, back decorated with a polychrome enamel miniature depicting a family after Jean-Honoré Fragonard, quarter repeating through the pendant. Case numbered, cuvette numbered and stamped IE in a lozenge, movement numbered underneath the dial.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Signed: No name
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From their first arrival in China around 1700, lavishly decorated watches manufactured for the Far East took incontestably a prominent position in the league of the most sumptuous timepieces ever made, highly coveted treasures, guarded like gold by their fortunate owners ever since.
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By the late 18th century, Chinese patrons requested only superlative watches, featuring finely decorated movements and also complications including repeating, music or automatons. To satisfy their desire for aesthetics, the cases had to be finely enamelled with motifs representing nature or classical scenes, set with pearls and precious stones. Many of these marvels were made for the Imperial Palace in Beijing where they can be admired still today.
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Often lost over the centuries and in particular during the tumultuous times in China, notably the first opium war in 1840 followed by the occupation of Beijing, the second opium war and the abdication of the last Emperor in 1912, to name just some, the appearance of even a single ‘survivor’ of this extremely scarce species is always greeted enthusiastically by the connoisseurs.
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The present timepiece was serviced in a most professional manner between 1961 and 1962 by the celebrated watchmaker Louis Cottier of Carouge, Geneva, best known for his invention of the world time system.