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拍品专文
The present timepiece is a fine example of an automaton watch made in Geneva around 1820, featuring a repeating mechanism, a musical pin barrel and a scene with three automatons: a couple playing lyres while a seated lady is waving a crown of flowers. The varicoloured gold scene impresses by the delicately carved details, enhanced by the finely painted enamel background landscape view, demonstrating the celebrated art of enamel miniatures originating from Geneva in the early 19th century.
Although signed Roman Bordier & Cie., the movement can be attributed to Henry Capt, one of Geneva's most celebrated makers and renowned for his musical watches and automata of extraordinary quality. It impressively illustrates the ultimate development of Capt's work by using a Lépine-style movement with free standing barrel while maintaining the musical pin-drum at a time when most of the other Geneva makers were using the pin-disc or pin-cylinder version.
Henry-Daniel Capt (1773 - ?)
Henry-Daniel or Henri Capt, together with Isaac Piguet and Philippe Meylan, was one of the leading manufacturers of musical automata at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. He specialized in the production of complicated watches, musical and automaton timepieces also for the Chinese market. Around 1789 Capt settled in Geneva and worked for several renowned companies such as Jaquet-Droz, Godet, Leschot and his brother-in-law Isaac Daniel Piguet.
When Piguet left to enter a partnership with Philippe-Samuel Meylan in 1811, Henry Capt continued to work first on his own, later with his son Charles Henry, until around 1830, when he joined forces with Aubert and son, Place Bel-Air in Geneva.
Although signed Roman Bordier & Cie., the movement can be attributed to Henry Capt, one of Geneva's most celebrated makers and renowned for his musical watches and automata of extraordinary quality. It impressively illustrates the ultimate development of Capt's work by using a Lépine-style movement with free standing barrel while maintaining the musical pin-drum at a time when most of the other Geneva makers were using the pin-disc or pin-cylinder version.
Henry-Daniel Capt (1773 - ?)
Henry-Daniel or Henri Capt, together with Isaac Piguet and Philippe Meylan, was one of the leading manufacturers of musical automata at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. He specialized in the production of complicated watches, musical and automaton timepieces also for the Chinese market. Around 1789 Capt settled in Geneva and worked for several renowned companies such as Jaquet-Droz, Godet, Leschot and his brother-in-law Isaac Daniel Piguet.
When Piguet left to enter a partnership with Philippe-Samuel Meylan in 1811, Henry Capt continued to work first on his own, later with his son Charles Henry, until around 1830, when he joined forces with Aubert and son, Place Bel-Air in Geneva.