Pocket watch · Automaton quarter repeating openface pocket watch

Piguet & Meylan 18K gold, pearl and enamel-set quarter repeating 'Barking Dog' automaton watch

Partially verified

This openface pocket watch by Isaac Daniel Piguet and Philippe Meylan features a quarter-repeating barking mechanism with round bellows and whistle activated through the pendant. Catalogued to circa 1815 for the Chinese market, the movement is a gilt brass half-plate with a cylinder escapement and standing barrel. The front shows an eccentric white enamel dial set within dark blue translucent guilloché enamel and adorned with chased gold and silver automaton figures depicting a dog barking at a swan. Its gold case features split pearl-set bezels and champlevé enamel on the band.

Front view of the Piguet & Meylan 'Barking Dog' automaton watch showing the eccentric dial and pearl-set bezel — Christie's. Rights pending — permission not yet requested. Original source

Catalogue identity

Source: www.christies.com
Category: Pocket watch · Automaton quarter repeating openface pocket watch
Maker / attribution: I.D. Piguet et P. Meylan
Reference: Not recorded
Catalogue / lot identifier: 2503
Source-reported date: circa 1815
Country: Switzerland
Source-reported serial: 146

Source-reported attribution and specifications are not independent authentication. A listing does not establish present ownership, current display, availability or permission to reproduce.

Object description

Dial and Automaton Presentation

The watch features an eccentric white enamel dial displaying Roman numerals for the hours alongside Arabic five-minute graduations. The dial is set against a dial plate finished in dark blue translucent guilloché enamel. In the foreground, applied and chased varicolored gold and silver automaton figures represent a dog barking at a swan.

According to source documentation, 'the dog moves its head with each movement of the bellows'. The dial plate is also catalogued as scratched signed 'par I. D. Piguet et P. Meylan à Genève'.

Evidence for this section

“Eccentric white enamel dial features Roman hour numerals and Arabic five-minute numerals.”
“Dial plate background is finished in dark blue translucent guilloché enamel.”
“the dog moves its head with each movement of the bellows”
“scratched signed on the dial plate ‘par I. D. Piguet et P. Meylan à Genève’”

Case Construction and Decorative Details

The 59 mm four-body case displays a front bezel adorned with a continuous circle of split pearls and a case band decorated with champlevé enamel scroll and diamond patterns. The auction listing records a locking bolt for repeating at 2 o'clock and an 'aperture for the sound with a shutter at 6 o'clock which opens during repeating'.

The interior of the back panel is stamped with the casemaker's mark 'L.E' in a lozenge, and the gilt hinged cuvette is signed and stamped inside with the makers' mark. The reverse of the case, while not visible in the provided image, is described in source documentation as painted with an enamel scene depicting a couple holding a butterfly with a castle and mountains in the background, attributed by the cataloguer to Jean-François-Victor Dupont.

Evidence for this section

“Front bezel is adorned with a continuous circle of split pearls.”
“The visible case band is decorated with champlevé enamel scroll and diamond patterns.”
“aperture for the sound with a shutter at 6 o'clock which opens during repeating”
“interior of back panel stamped with casemaker's mark ‘L.E’ in a lozenge”

Reported Movement and Mechanism

The movement is not visible in the single front photograph. Cataloguing notes describe it as a manual gilt brass half-plate caliber featuring a standing barrel, cylinder escapement, and repeating barking mechanism, stamped 'P&M' and '146'.

The repeating barking mechanism is recorded as utilizing 'round bellows and whistle activated by depressing the pendant'.

Evidence for this section

“Movement : Manual, gilt brass half-plate, standing barrel, cylinder escapement, repeating barking mechanism with round bellows and whistle activated by depressing the pendant, stamped ‘P&M’ and ‘146’”

Open research questions

Which Geneva case maker corresponds to the 'L.E' lozenge mark stamped inside the case back?
What specific archival or stylistic evidence underpins the auction cataloguer's attribution of the enamel back painting to Jean-François-Victor Dupont?

Source evidence

Recorded claims and source quotations for Piguet & Meylan 18K gold, pearl and enamel-set quarter repeating 'Barking Dog' automaton watch
Field	Source-reported value	Source quotation
Maker Signature	I.D. Piguet et P. Meylan, Genève	“scratched signed on the dial plate ‘par I. D. Piguet et P. Meylan à Genève’”
Movement Number	146	“stamped ‘P&M’ and ‘146’”
Escapement	Cylinder escapement	“cylinder escapement”
Case Diameter	59 mm	“59 mm. diam.”
Attributed Enameller	Jean-François-Victor Dupont	“THE ENAMEL PAINTING ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN-FRANÇOIS-VICTOR DUPONT”
Casemaker Mark	L.E in a lozenge	“interior of back panel stamped with casemaker's mark ‘L.E’ in a lozenge”
Case Construction	Four-body with gilt hinged cuvette	“Four-body, the back set with a very finely painted on enamel scene with a couple on the edge of a woodland holding a butterfly, a castle and mountains in the background, split pearl-set bezels, champlevé enamelled band, gilt hinged cuvette”
Repeating Acoustic Port	Shuttered aperture at 6 o'clock	“aperture for the sound with a shutter at 6 o'clock which opens during repeating”

Visible details

Front bezel is adorned with a continuous circle of split pearls.
Eccentric white enamel dial features Roman hour numerals and Arabic five-minute numerals.
Foreground features applied chased silver and gold automaton figures of a dog barking at a swan.
Dial plate background is finished in dark blue translucent guilloché enamel.
The visible case band is decorated with champlevé enamel scroll and diamond patterns.

Research qualifications

The movement and the painted enamel back cover scene depicting a couple holding a butterfly are not visible in this single front image.
The attribution of the enamel painting to Jean-François-Victor Dupont is source-reported and not signed.

Photograph identity and source facts were screened before import; rights clearance remains pending.

Consulted source

PIGUET & MEYLAN. AN EXTREMELY RARE 18K GOLD, PEARL AND ENAMEL-SET QUARTER REPEATING ‘BARKING DOG’ AUTOMATON OPENFACE WATCH, MADE FOR THE CHINESE MARKET, SIGNED I.D. PIGUET ET P. MEYLAN, GENÈVE, NO. 146, THE ENAMEL PAINTING ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN-FRANÇOIS-VICTOR DUPONT, CIRCA 1815 | Christie's

Reviewed 2026-10-21 · Record dcde4c23c5

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Glossary explanations for terms named in this object’s record.