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Lot Essay
The present watch features three of the technical and artistic traditions that Comor watches upheld: quarter repeating, jacquemart, and miniature cloisonné enamel paintings.
Jacquemart & Automata
A jacquemart often features a figure of a person, who strikes the hours, and in this case, quarter-hours, on a bell with a hammer. Examples can be found throughout the world of life-size jacquemarts that strike the bell on a church tower, and those large examples were translated into clockmaking. In turn, watchmakers and jewelers began to produce smaller jacquemarts that worked in pocket watches, and eventually in wristwatches.
Champlevé Enamel
The use of champlevé enamelling in the Swiss watchmaking industry came back in fashion in the mid-19th century. This craft commonly known as email à jour or plique à jour consists of creating the design without metallic support as seen with cloisonné enamel technique. The champlevé technique is particularly difficult due to multiple firings of the enamel. Each time the piece is heated and cooled, the artist must take into consideration all of the possible color changes as well as damage to the enamel. Thus each miniature enamel piece can be considered unique.
The present watch depicts enamel miniatures on the front inspired by Johannes Vermeer's "The Lacemaker" and on the back inspired by Gerrit Dou's "Old Woman Reading a Bible.
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is one of the most well-known of all Dutch artists. Due to family debts and his father's early death, Vermeer trained himself, rather than study under another artist. He converted to Catholicism after marrying a wealthy Catholic woman, and subsequently was able to sell his paintings for high prices. Vermeer's works focused on light and shade, and effects of sudden recessions and changes in focus. His most well-known painting, "Girl with a Pearl Earring" highlights his interest in light and shading. The enamel on the front of the present watch was inspired by Vermeer's painting "The Lacemaker", which depicts a young woman, focused on the piece of lace she is working on, with a sewing cushion, pins, and threads, on her table. The theme of lacemaking was often depicted in Dutch literature and art. "The Lacemaker" was the smallest painting that Vermeer ever painted, and the focus is on the woman's hands and her work. The objects in the foreground are not in focus, almost blurred, showing Vermeer's interest in focus and light.
Gerrit Dou (1613-1675) was another Dutch master, who early on trained with Rembrandt. They are known to have collaborated on at least one picture, however his later paintings indicate that his style deviated from what he learned from Rembrant. Dou painted a wide range of subject matter, from religious themes to groups of people going through daily life. The enamel on the back of the present watch was inspired by Dou's painting "Old Woman Reading a Bible, which depicts an elderly lady, dressed in a fur coat, holding a bible close to her face to read.
These two enamels, inspired by paintings by Dutch masters, along with the jacquemart and quarter repeating complications, combine to make the present watch not just a fascinating piece of horological history, but a work of art as well.
Jacquemart & Automata
A jacquemart often features a figure of a person, who strikes the hours, and in this case, quarter-hours, on a bell with a hammer. Examples can be found throughout the world of life-size jacquemarts that strike the bell on a church tower, and those large examples were translated into clockmaking. In turn, watchmakers and jewelers began to produce smaller jacquemarts that worked in pocket watches, and eventually in wristwatches.
Champlevé Enamel
The use of champlevé enamelling in the Swiss watchmaking industry came back in fashion in the mid-19th century. This craft commonly known as email à jour or plique à jour consists of creating the design without metallic support as seen with cloisonné enamel technique. The champlevé technique is particularly difficult due to multiple firings of the enamel. Each time the piece is heated and cooled, the artist must take into consideration all of the possible color changes as well as damage to the enamel. Thus each miniature enamel piece can be considered unique.
The present watch depicts enamel miniatures on the front inspired by Johannes Vermeer's "The Lacemaker" and on the back inspired by Gerrit Dou's "Old Woman Reading a Bible.
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is one of the most well-known of all Dutch artists. Due to family debts and his father's early death, Vermeer trained himself, rather than study under another artist. He converted to Catholicism after marrying a wealthy Catholic woman, and subsequently was able to sell his paintings for high prices. Vermeer's works focused on light and shade, and effects of sudden recessions and changes in focus. His most well-known painting, "Girl with a Pearl Earring" highlights his interest in light and shading. The enamel on the front of the present watch was inspired by Vermeer's painting "The Lacemaker", which depicts a young woman, focused on the piece of lace she is working on, with a sewing cushion, pins, and threads, on her table. The theme of lacemaking was often depicted in Dutch literature and art. "The Lacemaker" was the smallest painting that Vermeer ever painted, and the focus is on the woman's hands and her work. The objects in the foreground are not in focus, almost blurred, showing Vermeer's interest in focus and light.
Gerrit Dou (1613-1675) was another Dutch master, who early on trained with Rembrandt. They are known to have collaborated on at least one picture, however his later paintings indicate that his style deviated from what he learned from Rembrant. Dou painted a wide range of subject matter, from religious themes to groups of people going through daily life. The enamel on the back of the present watch was inspired by Dou's painting "Old Woman Reading a Bible, which depicts an elderly lady, dressed in a fur coat, holding a bible close to her face to read.
These two enamels, inspired by paintings by Dutch masters, along with the jacquemart and quarter repeating complications, combine to make the present watch not just a fascinating piece of horological history, but a work of art as well.