French verge with The death of Cleopatra in enamel Circa 1688

Enamelled single handed oignon watch
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An important, very early and unusually large French single handed oignon pocket watch, circa 1688. A very early verge movement, Egyptian pillars, early central winding and a bridge with bird scenes. The original dial is also finely enamel painted in the center, white cartouches with blue Roman hours and iron hands. Completely enamelled case, the back with the mythological scene The death of Cleopatra attributed to Jean Mussard V, the band showing landscape scenes in the typical style of Mussard. The design of the case band is extraordinarily interesting. While in the upper part the landscape scenes are presented in the sunlight, the lower part of the case shows the landscape with the sun setting and in the centre the representation of Cleopatra’s suicide.
Movement signed.
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Diameter: 60 mm
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Weight: 177 g
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Signed: François Bourdain Bourdeaux
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Only a few watches like this one have survived to this day. Almost all of them can be found in famous collections and museums. An almost identical watch was part of the famous Sandberg collection and was sold for more than 20,000 Swiss Francs in 2001.

Jean Mussard V was born and died in Geneva, 1681-1754. He was one of the best enamel painters of the early 18th century, the son of Jean IV and a cousin of the Huauds. He began his career as a goldsmith and became a Master on December 7th, 1699. He later became a painter on enamel, in which discipline he was influenced by the style of Les Frères Huaud. Although he clearly was inspired by their work, his paintings were more according to the taste of the time, they showed religious designs as well as purely secular ones. He went into partnership with his son Jean-Antoine and trained several pupils, among them Gabriel Fontaine, André Oettner, and in 1712, Germain Colladon. The scene ‘The Death of Cleopatra’ can be found on several of his enamel watches, but two of his best known subjects are ‘Roman Charity’ and ‘Religious Scene’. His signature appears as ‘Mussard’, ‘Jean Mussard pinx’ and ‘Mussard pinx’.