English gold repoussé verge watch with automata Circa 1700

Gold repoussé watch by John Bushman
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A rare and unique English gold single-cased repoussé verge watch featuring Adam and Eve automata, circa 1700. The watch boasts a gilded full plate movement with a verge escapement, rounded baluster pillars, and a backplate adorned with a chased and engraved gold panel depicting the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Carved ivory figures of Adam and Eve, as well as apples, are applied, with the serpent highlighted with enamel decoration travelling around the scene. It also includes a fusee and chain, signed Bushman, London, and a gilt metal movement cap with a large framed aperture revealing an automata scene, surrounded by a floral wreath heightened with green enamel. The gold champlevé dial features Roman numerals with half-hour divisions as well as an outer Arabic minute ring. It also has an aperture for winding and a blued steel regulation disc, along with blued steel beetle and poker hands. The centre is adorned with banners signed Bvshma (sic), London.
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The gold single case features a large glazed aperture on the back, revealing the automata. The bezels are adorned with scenes representing the four seasons and the four ages of man, with each scene separated by decorative faceted paste stones. The bow is a later addition. The watch’s case back features a unique automaton connected directly to the watch’s movement. As the watch runs, a serpent moves around the border of green foliage to the edge of the scene, where Adam and Eve are depicted standing before the Tree of Life, with Eve shown picking the forbidden fruit. Both bezels include symbolism and are chased and engraved with pictorial representations of the different seasons and ages of man.
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Diameter: 49 mm
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Signed: Bushman, London
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John Bushman (also known as Buschman or Buschmann) was born in 1661 in Augsburg, Germany. He was the son of the renowned clockmaker Johann Bushmann II. Around 1687, he relocated to London. In 1690, he married 23-year-old Mary Wyatt at Christ Church. By 1692, he had become a Free Brother of the Clockmakers’ Company and was appointed as an assistant in 1720. It is believed that Bushman continued working until 1725.