English repoussé verge in shagreen protective case Circa 1786

Gold repoussé pair cased watch by John Curtis
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A fine English, 22-carat gold repoussé pair cased pocket watch with outer gilt brass and shagreen protective case, made for the Dutch market, London hallmarks for 1786. Gilt brass movement with cylindrical ringed pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, three-arm steel balance, flat balance spring, continental style pierced and chased balance cock, silvered regulation dial.
Case with gilt brass rims and bezels overlaid with shagreen and applied pinwork decoration, glazed back. Second case with repousse, finely chased with a scene of The Presentation in the Temple within a rococo scrollwork border, bezel decorated to match. Inner case, polished.
White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer arcaded minute track and Arabic five-minute numerals. Blued steel beetle and poker hands. Dial and movement signed, movement and inner case numbered.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Signed: John Curtis London
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The scene depicted on the repoussé case of this watch derives from a painting by Charles Lebrun. The painting was adapted for a design by the great gold chaser Augustin Heckel and was used on some watch cases by him. Subsequent versions of the scene on watch cases are clearly dependent on this design, and the present watch shows his influence over forty years after his retirement. Another watch with the same case design and signed Curtis, London, No. 5921 and also dating from 1786-7 is illustrated in Richard Edgecumbe, The Art of the Gold Chaser in 18th Century London, Oxford University Press, 2000.