Watch and case by Jean Fazy, Switzerland, 1765-70

V&A — Summary

Geneva has been celebrated since the second half of the seventeenth century for its enamelled watches. Jean Fazy (1737-94), whose name is on the dial and the movement, is well-known for his pair-cased watches (watches with an additional outer case) decorated with enamel and gemstones. Pair-cases were standard on London-made watches for much of the eighteenth century and the use of them here suggests the influence of London watchmaking which had a high reputation in Europe in the eighteenth century. The scene on this case derives from an engraving by H. S. Thomassin published in 1723 after a painting by Charles de la Fosse of Veturia and Volumnia before Coriolanus. The composition has been simplified so that only the wife of Coriolanus and one of his children are present, rather than his wife and mother and two children as depicted by Charles de la Fosse. The scene is here given a neo-classical setting by being painted within a circle bordered on both back and bezel by tightly-bound wreaths of laurel. There is slightly more freedom to the enamelled sprays of foliage immediately outside the scene, but they remain symmetrical. However, the hands of the watch, particularly the minute hand which has a C curve and is asymmetrical, and the asymmetrical scrolls on the bridgecock of the movement, show that the watch is in transition from the rococo style to the neo-classical. By the standards of Paris gold boxes, neo-classicism was dominant by 1763, so it seems likely that this watch was probably made during the 1760s.

V&A — Object history

Bequeathed in 1890 by Harriet Bolckow, widow of the Middlesbrough ironmaster, Henry William Ferdinand Bolckow.

V&A gallery label

Watch with the family of Coriolanus 1765–70 Like much Neoclassical decorative work, this watch combines subject matter and ornament taken from ancient Roman art. The family of Coriolanus is pleading with him to spare Rome. The same scene had been used on Rococo watchcases within a framework of complex scrolls. Here the scene is painted within a simple circle, framed by a Neoclassical laurel. Switzerland (Geneva) Movement by Jean Fazy Gold and silver, enamelled and set with diamonds Bequeathed by Mrs Harriet Bolckow