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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Pocket watch · Genève

Montre à automates et musique

Verified

The back of the gold case, which has a fluted caseband, is engraved with a scene from antiquity. A young woman with a sheaf of wheat under her arm is walking towards an altar. There is a temple on the right and a radiant sun above, its centre engraved by a face crowned with a wreath of laurels.

Technical facts

Inventory number
MIH I-1118
Object type
Pocket watch
Place of production
Genève
Dating
1810 - 1830
Materials and techniques (catalogue wording)
or, émail, laiton
Dimensions (catalogue)
dimensions d'exposition: 77.5 x 57.5 x 23.4 mm; poids: 164.000 g
Inscriptions (catalogue)
LC (Fond du boîtier); N° 35 (Platine du mouvement à musique)

Historical significance

  • The back of the gold case, which has a fluted caseband, is engraved with a scene from antiquity. A young woman with a sheaf of wheat under her arm is walking towards an altar. There is a temple on the right and a radiant sun above, its centre engraved by a face crowned with a wreath of laurels.
  • The dial plate is decorated with an enamel landscape, with Cupid and a cherub musician sitting on a seesaw moving to the rhythm of the music. Underneath, a figure plays a drum, accompanied by a jumping dog.
  • Above this scene is an offset dial, gilded and engine-turned, with the hours in Arabic numerals.
  • The watch movement, having the same diameter as the dial, has a fusee with chain and a verge escapement.
  • The musical movement, which is activated by a lever on the side of the case-middle, consists of a rotating cylinder with pins and sixteen metallic teeth.

Photographs

Montre à automates et musique (MIH I-1118)
Montre à automates et musique (MIH I-1118) — Musée international d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Museum collection photograph, rights review pending. MIH collection record
Montre à automates et musique (MIH I-1118)
Montre à automates et musique (MIH I-1118) — Musée international d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Museum collection photograph, rights review pending. MIH collection record

Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.

Sources & references

  1. Musée international d'horlogerie, online collection record, inv. I-1118: https://collection.mih.ch/fr/collection/item/36784/

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.