Swiss

A GOLD QUARTER REPEATING AUTOMATON VERGE WATCH WITH JACQUEMARTS AND CONCEALED EROTIC AUTOMATA CIRCA 1810

• Movement: unsigned gilded full plate, verge escapement, pierced and engraved balance bridge
• Dial: white enamel chapter ring, Arabic numerals, skeletonised background with vari-colour gold classical jacquemarts figures holding hammers for the striking, erotic automata scene to the bottom concealed beneath a plate depicting a goat, each scene with applied three colour gold decoration against a blued steel plate
• Case: gold, engine-turned back, a lever to the band at 5 o'clock to reveal the erotic scene, case maker's mark HB within a diamond shaped cartouche, gilt-metal cuvette bearing the signature Breguet à Paris
diameter 54 mm

Provenance:
In pagan antiquity the goat was often seen to symbolize lust and was frequently associated with the worship of Bacchus, the god of wine. The goat to the base of the dial of this watch is seen feeding on grapes and the plate upon which it is shown conceals the amorous automata scene beneath. For another automata watch with a similar arrangement, see Sotheby's New York, 4 December 2012, lot 163.