Early French silver verge pendant pocket watch Circa 1675

Silver verge open faced pocket watch by Epaphras Laudreau
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An early one-handed pendant pocket watch from Bordeaux, circa 1675. The timepiece has a silver case with stylized vines and a silver champlevé dial, featuring a barking dog and a frightened swan surrounded by floral tendrils. The design may have been inspired by the painting The Threatened Swan by Dutch artist Jan Asselijn (1610-1652), currently housed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Over time, it came to symbolize national strength during the Anglo-Dutch naval conflicts. It has a full plate movement, key wind, applied floral decorations and click work, fire gilt, signed, gut/fusee, pierced flower pillars, worm and wheel set up, verge escapement, iron ring balance, and florally pierced balance cock.
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Diameter: 36 mm
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Weight: 37 g
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Signed: Epaphras Laudreau, Bordeaux
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Epaphras Laudreau or Landreau is not only known as a watchmaker but also as a Protestant pastor for the community of Castets-en-Dorthe in France during the years 1679-1685. In the book “History of the Settlement and Influence of French Refugees in the Netherlands,” Epaphras Laudreau is also mentioned as a pastor in the parish of Espiens near Nérac, located between Bordeaux and Agen. According to the book, he fled to the Netherlands after the Edict of Nantes was revoked. This suggests that the clock may have been made in the Netherlands after 1685. Therefore, the barking dog and the fleeing swan on the clock could be interpreted as an allegory of the persecution of the Huguenots.