Charming French gilt lady’s watch with erotic scene Circa 1774

Gold verge accompanied with wax case
–
A charming Swiss gold, painted on enamel and gilt brass Louis XVI, sealing wax case, circa 1774. Set with semi precious and paste stones, with a miniature watch and concealed erotic enameled scene. Gilded metal case with floral and foliate decoration in relief, two sides with applied silver decoration set with multi coloured stones, hinged two-body varicoloured gold top houses the watch, the back set with a painted on enamel portrait of a lady, the bottom of the case set with a dendritic (moss) agate oval panel on one side and a painted portrait medallion of a lady within a frame of ruby coloured stones on the other, the medallion can be rotated revealing a potentially incandescent erotic scene between the lady and a gentleman.
–
White enamel dial, radial Roman numerals, outer dot minute divisions, five-minute Arabic numerals and gold Louis XVI hands. Oval movement, built on three levels, brass, cylindrical pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, plain three-arm brass balance with flat spring, mounted between the third and fourth plate. Paris discharge marks of Jean Baptiste Fouache for 1774-1780.
–
Diameter: 19 mm
–
Length: 148 mm
–
Signed: No Name
–
A charming Objet de Luxe from the reign of LOUIS XVI. It is rare to find such a small watch in an object made pre-1800. The concealed erotic scene is revealed by swivelling the small portrait of a lady at the base of the body. This object was made to contain a block of sealing wax used for sealing letters and documents. The Sandberg Watch Collection. Published in the book of the collection of Lord Sandberg.