Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of this watch with enamel painting in 1963 and its subsequent sale on 6 April 1973. It is furthermore stated that the watch was originally fitted with a plain case and only during a servicing in the workshops of Patek Philippe, this case was replaced by the actual one with enamel painting, bearing number 324'573.
The enamel of the present watch is signed by Mrs. Suzanne Rohr, one of the last artists able to perpetuate the supremely exacting art of miniature painting on enamel. Mrs. Rohr, who celebrated 35 years of collaboration with Patek Philippe in 2002, reserves her talent for the company. Since the 1960s, when Patek Philippe re-launched the production of watches with enamel miniatures, Mrs. Rohr has been entrusted with the creation of only three pocket watches a year. In her hands, the secret alchemy of the coloured enamels offers a second life, of unequalled depth and finesse, to some of the world's greatest art treasures.
The present watch is one of the earliest examples of the celebrated collaboration between Mrs. Rohr and Patek Philippe.
For another note on enamel miniature watches by Patek Philippe see lot 95 in this sale.
The enamel detail on the present watch is after Corot's work The Roman Campagna (La Cervara), c.1826-27, oil on canvas, Kunsthaus Zürich.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875), was a French painter whose landscapes are among the most sought after and influential paintings of the nineteenth century. Living in France, he travelled through France, England, Switzerland and Italy, making sketches from nature which he then finished in his atelier in Paris.
Corot was fascinated by the drama of the Italian countryside, filled with exotic plants and native peasants. He followed with this passion the steps of other artists attracted to the Roman campagna, also called La Cervara, for generations.
Corot probably begun La Cervara while living in Rome between 1825 and 1828 and, based on the drawings and oil sketches made outdoor, finished it on large canvas on his return to Paris.