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Lot 458
CLARY, 18K GOLD, ENAMEL AND PEARL-SET OPENFACE WATCH, ENAMEL SCENE IN THE MANNER OF LISSIGNOL
NO. 11'011
Fermé18 May 2021
Prix réalisé
CHF 17,500
Plus d'informations
Note du spécialiste
Preserved in attractive condition throughout, the present watch impresses with the high quality of the enamel decoration, illustrating the celebrated art of enamel miniatures originating from Geneva in the early 19th century.
It was not unusual during that period that an artist would sign his work. The enamel miniature on the present watch however can be attributed to Jean Abraham Lissignol (1749-1819), also known as Père Lissignol (Lissignol father) to distinguish him from his son Abraham who worked as well as an enameller in Geneva. Jean-Abraham was trained by the celebrated Jean-Marc Roux and specialized in allegorical subjects. He was famous for his portrait miniatures and miniatures for the decoration of watch cases and gold boxes, often made in collaboration with Piguet & Meylan and destined for the export to China.
The exquisitely painted enamel scene on the present watch is believed to depict the Greek goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over grains and the fertility of the earth. Though often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. She and her daughter Persephone were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, a religious tradition that predated the Olympian pantheon, and which may have its roots in the Mycenaean period c. 1400–1200 BC. Demeter was often considered to be the same figure as the Anatolian goddess Cybele, and she was identified with the Roman goddess Ceres.
It was not unusual during that period that an artist would sign his work. The enamel miniature on the present watch however can be attributed to Jean Abraham Lissignol (1749-1819), also known as Père Lissignol (Lissignol father) to distinguish him from his son Abraham who worked as well as an enameller in Geneva. Jean-Abraham was trained by the celebrated Jean-Marc Roux and specialized in allegorical subjects. He was famous for his portrait miniatures and miniatures for the decoration of watch cases and gold boxes, often made in collaboration with Piguet & Meylan and destined for the export to China.
The exquisitely painted enamel scene on the present watch is believed to depict the Greek goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over grains and the fertility of the earth. Though often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. She and her daughter Persephone were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, a religious tradition that predated the Olympian pantheon, and which may have its roots in the Mycenaean period c. 1400–1200 BC. Demeter was often considered to be the same figure as the Anatolian goddess Cybele, and she was identified with the Roman goddess Ceres.