Lot Essay
This particular piece is a wounderful example of Genevan enamel skills in colour nuances at the begining of the 19th Century.
Details
ILBERY. A VERY FINE GOLD, ENAMEL AND SEED-PEARL DUPLEX WATCH IN FORM OF A PEACH MADE FOR THE CHINESE MARKET
signed Ilbery, London, 6499, circa 1800
with highly decorative engraved gilt movement throughout with duplex escapement, steel five-arm balance, hinged, the white enamel dial with Roman numerals, outer minute ring, subsidiary seconds, "spoon" hands, the case of peach shape entirely painted with variated green, red and yellow enamel, with translucent green enamel leafage in champlevé on a guilloché ground with split seed-pearl borders, split seed-pearl rim and bezel, with shaped gold and split seed-pearl pendant and bow, movement signed- 80mm long
signed Ilbery, London, 6499, circa 1800
with highly decorative engraved gilt movement throughout with duplex escapement, steel five-arm balance, hinged, the white enamel dial with Roman numerals, outer minute ring, subsidiary seconds, "spoon" hands, the case of peach shape entirely painted with variated green, red and yellow enamel, with translucent green enamel leafage in champlevé on a guilloché ground with split seed-pearl borders, split seed-pearl rim and bezel, with shaped gold and split seed-pearl pendant and bow, movement signed- 80mm long
Literature
A similar watch is illustrated in Alfred Chapuis, Montres et Emaux de Genève, Lausanne, 1944, p. 139, as being part of the H. Wilsdorf Collection and again in P.F. Schneeberger, Collection Hans Wilsdorf, Geneva, 1970, p. 44
Another example is in the Time Museum in Rockford (Illinois) and is illustrated in C. Cardinal, La Montre des origines au XIXe siècle, Fribourg, 1985, p. 63.
Another example is in the Time Museum in Rockford (Illinois) and is illustrated in C. Cardinal, La Montre des origines au XIXe siècle, Fribourg, 1985, p. 63.