German early silver skull shaped pendant watch Circa 1700

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Kenmerk
HC1957
Diameter
-
Estimate
€ 5.500 - 11.000
Price sold
€ 7.450

Silver Renaissance style form watch 
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An extremely rare, early Renaissance style pendant watch in the shape of a skull made by Abraham Wolff in Danzig, circa 1700. The hinged silver case of this watch is decorated with engraved scenes and Latin sayings on all sides, including biblical depictions on the sides, and a skeleton and an inscription in Latin on the front: ‘Pale death knocks with the same foot at the huts of the poor and the palaces of the rich‘. The dial with outermost Zodiac signs and astronomical representations, applied Roman hour numerals on an inner silvered chapter ring and iron hands. The movement is fitted with an oval verge escapement, a gut string, an early balance without a hairspring and a probably re-gilded balance cock.
The movement is signed.
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Dimensions: 58 x 48 mm
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Weight: 116 g
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Signed: Abraham Wolff Dantzig
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Wolff
Abraham Wolff was a prominent master watchmaker active in Danzig during the late 17th and early 18th  century (roughly between 1690 and 1730). He was a recognized member of the Danzig Goldsmiths and Watchmakers Guild. At the time, Danzig was a Royal City of Poland and a major Hanseatic trading hub, making it a center for luxury goods. His watches are typically signed “Abr. Wolff Dantzig” or “Abraham Wolff Dantzig” on the back plate of the movement.
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Around 1700, Danzig (present-day Gdańsk) was culturally and linguistically German, with a predominantly German speaking population, but it was legally part of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. As a largely autonomous city within Royal Prussia, it functioned as a major Hanseatic port under Polish sovereignty until its annexation by Prussia in 1793.

Signed: Abraham Wolff Dantzig

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