Swiss scent flacon with watch and musical movement Circa 1790

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Kenmerk
AS1801
Diameter
-
Estimate
€ 60.000 - 120.000
Price sold
€ 105.500

Gold, enamel, and diamond set scent flacon with watch 
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A rare Swiss gold, enamel, and diamond-set scent flask with a timepiece and carillon musical movement in the style of John Rich, made for the Turkish market, circa 1790. The timepiece features a gilded, decoratively engraved movement with urn-shaped plates, a cylinder escapement, a visible three-arm balance with a diamond-set rim, and a going barrel. It includes a musical movement with a pin drum musical train, a carillon on four nesting bells with a stack of five blued steel hammers, and decoratively engraved bridges. The white, enamel dial has Turkish numerals, an outer minute ring, and diamond-set Louis XV-style hands.
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The gold case has a front with a hinged cover, apertures for the time dial, and a visible balance, each bordered with diamond-set bezels and surrounded by semi-translucent pink enamel heightened with polychrome enamel-painted ribbons and floral garlands. The back is decorated en suite with a polychrome enamel roundel depicting a lakeside scene with a pierced bezel for sound emission, further decoratively pierced roundel above, each surrounded by leaves of green enamel and rose-cut diamonds. The band is pierced for sound emission and decorated with gold foliage heightened with green enamel and interwoven with rose-cut diamond-set sprays, with the stopper unscrewing to reveal the key to wind both trains.
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Height: 104 mm
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Signed: No name
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The movement is not functioning, but the balance appears to be free. The musical movement is operational but sounds rather dull and would benefit from adjustment. The key within the stopper does not fit well to the winding squares and will only intermittently wind it; using a smaller key does wind both trains okay. The dial is in good condition. The left side of the main front panel and the left side of the main back panel are both restored in soft enamel. There is a hairline crack on the upper right side of the main front panel. The upper two panels at the front and back of the case are more orangey in tone than the lower panels. A few of the rose-cut diamonds are missing. There are some minor, small losses to the green enamel of the leaves. The centre of the stopper unscrews to reveal the key, but it does not appear that the rest of the stopper unscrews, and it’s not clear whether it was designed to do so or is merely for decorative purposes.
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The musical movement is crafted in the style of John Rich, a renowned maker known for creating automaton watches, singing birds, and snuff boxes. Rich born in England, was active in London and Geneva, where he collaborated with Jaquet-Droz & Leschot and Frères Rochat. The movement is decorated to the Chinese calibre watch, featuring intricately engraved bridge work. It includes a stack of four bells struck by five large asymmetrical hammers, made of blued steel to complement the overall design.
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Exotic items like intricately decorated scent bottles were created to meet the growing demand from international markets for lavishly adorned and unique timepieces. These bottles were often adorned with colourful enamels and could range in mechanical complexity from a simple timepiece to a watch with a musical movement, or in their rarest form, a singing bird automaton. 

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