English repeating pocket watch with matching chatelaine Circa 1768

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Kenmerk
AA0259
Diameter
44 mm
Estimate
€ 7.500 - 14.000
Price sold
€ 7.800

Gold and enamel watch with diamonds by Jen Jones
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A fine and rare English 22 Carat gold and enamel quarter repeating cylinder pocket watch with matching chatelaine, circa 1768. Round shaped case, the back with royal blue flinqué enamel, in the centre an oval shaped panel in a diamond set frame with a painted neo classical en grisaille scene showing two vestals preparing the statue of a satyr because the night comes and it will revive to honour them, the enamel is attributable to George Michael Moser and a diamond set bezel. The gilded brass chatelaine decorated en suite with another neoclassical scene showing a young woman carrying a vase (probably with a love filter) surrounded by a Cupid. Gilded brass full plate movement, cylinder escapement, brass wheel, fusee and chain, polished brass monometallic balance, blued steel flat hairspring, pierced and engraved gilded continental cock, diamond end stone and repeating the quarter hours on one bell activated by depressing the pendant. The bell engraved Drury with an etching needle, the counter enamel dial signed and numbered Mattheu 101, a signature on the movement and dust cap.
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Diameter: 43.7 mm
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Signed: Jenk Jones
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George Michael Moser, 1706-1783, was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. He studied chasing and gilding under his father, Michael Moser, a coppersmith. He moved to London in 1726 and worked for John Valentine Haidt, goldsmith and watch chaser. By 1737, he was working on his account at Craven Buildings off Drury Lane. In addition to chasing, he also produced fine enamel cases, of which only a few are known to survive. He designed the great seal of George III and painted enamel portraits of the royal children for Queen Charlotte. In the 1740s, Moser became a leading figure at the St. Martins Lane Academy, and later, in 1769, he became the first Keeper of the Royal Academy. His repoussé watch casework is among the finest to be found. Moser continued to work until the late 1770s and was active for the Royal Academy until the end of his life. On January 30, 1783, the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ reported that “He was followed to his grave in grand funeral pomp by all the capital artists, Sir Josh. Reynolds at their head as chief mourner, Sir Wm. Chambers etc. Besides two gentlemen’s coaches, ten mourning coaches were in the procession.”
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A grisaille (en grisaille), or grey painting, is a painting in which one does not apply natural colours but restricts oneself to depicting things in all possible shades of the same colour, usually grey or brown.
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Flinqué enamel is translucent enamel over guilloché engine turned.

Signed: Jenk Jones

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