Lot Essay
According to the engraved inscription on the inside of the hinged base cover, this magnificent and extremely rare musical automaton snuff box was given by the British King George IV (1762-1830) to the King of Oudh or Awadh State, then an independent Kingdom of Northern India. The recipient was probably Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar Shah (1769-1827), who was King of Oudh between 1818 and 1827.
This superb precious object was almost certainly made in the Geneva workshop of Piguet & Meylan. Although bearing indistinct maker’s marks, the gold box was certainly made by one of the great Genevan makers, perhaps Rémond, Lamy, Mercier & Co., who were working between 1811 and 1819. The overall design of the box is different to similar boxes made for the Chinese market in having a rather more restrained pattern of gold foliage against a black champlevé enamel ground. The interior is of course dazzlingly beautiful with a stunning and beautifully chased varicolored gold landscape scene featuring a rotating glass waterfall and water wheel, a rocking ship on the sea and a windmill with rotating sails activated when the music plays. The gold landscape is set against a sublime painted enamel blue sky and sea. The inside of the cover is engraved with the crowned monogram of King George IV on either side of the watch aperture.
This splendid mechanical wonder would have been immensely expensive when it was made and certainly a fitting gift from one King to another as an object of the highest prestige and value.
Piguet & Meylan
Piguet & Meylan Isaac-Daniel Piguet was born in Le Chenit in the Valley of Joux in 1775. At an early age, he specialized in the manufacturing of expensive and complicated pieces such as watches with carillons and en passant hour and quarter striking clock watches. He finally settled in Geneva where, in 1811, he formed a partnership with Philippe-Samuel Meylan.
Philippe-Samuel Meylan (1772-1845), a member of a family of renowned watchmakers, was born in Le Brassus. He specialized in the production of very thin watches and became an eminent maker of watches with musical automata.
This superb precious object was almost certainly made in the Geneva workshop of Piguet & Meylan. Although bearing indistinct maker’s marks, the gold box was certainly made by one of the great Genevan makers, perhaps Rémond, Lamy, Mercier & Co., who were working between 1811 and 1819. The overall design of the box is different to similar boxes made for the Chinese market in having a rather more restrained pattern of gold foliage against a black champlevé enamel ground. The interior is of course dazzlingly beautiful with a stunning and beautifully chased varicolored gold landscape scene featuring a rotating glass waterfall and water wheel, a rocking ship on the sea and a windmill with rotating sails activated when the music plays. The gold landscape is set against a sublime painted enamel blue sky and sea. The inside of the cover is engraved with the crowned monogram of King George IV on either side of the watch aperture.
This splendid mechanical wonder would have been immensely expensive when it was made and certainly a fitting gift from one King to another as an object of the highest prestige and value.
Piguet & Meylan
Piguet & Meylan Isaac-Daniel Piguet was born in Le Chenit in the Valley of Joux in 1775. At an early age, he specialized in the manufacturing of expensive and complicated pieces such as watches with carillons and en passant hour and quarter striking clock watches. He finally settled in Geneva where, in 1811, he formed a partnership with Philippe-Samuel Meylan.
Philippe-Samuel Meylan (1772-1845), a member of a family of renowned watchmakers, was born in Le Brassus. He specialized in the production of very thin watches and became an eminent maker of watches with musical automata.