English gold and enamel pre-balance verge watch Circa 1640

Gold open faced pocket watch by Henry Grendon
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An important English pre-balance gold enamel verge pocket watch, circa 1640. Gold enamel case with a polychrome enamelled depiction of a picnic on the reverse side, landscape vignettes on the sides, and an interior with a castle amidst a park. White enamel dial, chapter ring with radial Roman numerals, the centre a polychrome enamel portrait of a noble lady and single iron hand. Full plate movement, keywind, fire gilt, signed, gut/fusee, tapering movement pillars, ratchet wheel set up with blued steel spring, two-arm iron balance, finely florally engraved and pierced balance cock.
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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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Some thoughts on this extraordinary watch: “The signature is English, but one would not expect the enameller to be English at this date. Most of the enamel watch cases were imported from France and fitted with English movements in the 17th. Century. At this time, the cases were made first, unlike gold or silver examples, and the watchmaker created a movement to fit. Henry Grendon was an early maker, working by 1633 and disappearing from the scene by about 1650. He has a rock crystal watch and a ,couple of silver watches from about 1650. What is so extraordinary is the subject matter of the enamels. It is a totally “secular” subject, not religious or classical, using existing prints or paintings. The woman on the dial could well be a portrait. The pouring of wine is associated in mythology with lust and sex and could be what is meant here – the two older ladies being served by the young man. The enamelling is naive in style and has a limited palette of colours. This could signify a very early date or a lack of access to the oxides available in the centres where enamelling was seriously practised in Blois or Paris. The hats they wear are flamboyant for women at the time, but we found a van Dyke portrait with something not too far away. It appears that it may have been painted by an enameller working outside the main centres, with limited colours at his disposal. However, there is little record of painters working in England at the time – except Petitot – so it would be only “possible” to say it was painted in England.” Background information by Simon Bull: The Royal Collection of Queen Elizabeth II in London holds another watch by Henry Grendon. The pendant watch in a rock crystal case was given to Jane Lane by King Charles II in 1651.