Pocket Watches · Watch
Watch by Philippe Corderoy, England, 1685–1700
- Maker / attribution
- Philippe Corderoy (Horloger)
- Date
- 1685–1700
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Londres, England
- Object type
- Watch
- Materials / technique
- silver, brass
- Dimensions
- height 8,8 cm; width 7 cm; depth 4 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OA 685
- Credit line
- Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes
- Catalogue title (original)
- Montre à double boîtier (French)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 685), this is a watch by Philippe Corderoy, made in Londres, England, dated 1685–1700. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: silver, brass. Recorded dimensions: height 8,8 cm; width 7 cm; depth 4 cm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Catalogue description — Musée du Louvre (French)
Montre à double boîtier, boîtier gravé de rinceaux à feuilles d'acanthes peuplés d'oiseaux, lapins et d'un écureuil ; sur le pourtour une frise gravée ajourée de rinceaux au milieu desquels serpentent deux dragons entrecoupés de cinq colonnes doriques. Lunette du verre gravée de feuilles stylisées. Cloche fixée dans le fond, trois trous de remontages marqués "W, C, L.", bélière en forme de boule. Boîtier de protection en cuir clouté. Cadran à chiffres romains et losanges (demi-heures), cadran du réveil à chiffres arabes gravé d'un motif de feuillage, index en laiton. Mouvement à sonnerie et à réveil muni d'un échappement à roue de rencontre, une fusée avec chaîne, un balancier à ressort-spiral-réglant, coq circulaire à un pied gravé et ajouré de rinceaux. Roue de compte de la sonnerie numérotée 1 à 12, un des trois barillets ajouré et gravé, un autre gravé.
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Dating and period as catalogued (French)
Epoque / période : Louis XIV (1643-1715) (Occident->époque moderne = Ancien Régime->dynastie des Bourbons) · · Date de création/fabrication : 1685 - 1700
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Materials and techniques as catalogued (French)
Matériau : argent · Matériau : laiton · Matériau : peau = cuir · Technique : techniques métal (orfèvrerie) · Technique : émaillé = émaillage = émail = émaux (techniques métal)
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Inscriptions & marks
Signature : ; mouvement signé : Philip Corderoy London
Provenance
collection Alexandre-Charles Sauvageot (1781-1860) ; acquise en 1835, cf. le Livre d'achat n° 1504 : "Grosse montre en argent ciselé à réveil avec double boîte, datant de Louis XIV. 120 francs. Rest[auration] de la boîte, 12 francs, du mouvement, 30 francs / 162 francs" ; minute de la donation Sauvageot 1DD139 série K n° 10 p. 176 : "Gros réveil, dans sa boîte en argent gravé et ciselé à jour sur les côtés, cadran en argent, double boîte en cuir noir percé à jour par des oeillets en argent" ; donation acceptée en 1856, acte notarié le 6 mars 1857, n° 1365 : "Gros réveil, dans sa boîte en argent gravé et ciselé à jour sur les côtés, cadran en argent, double boîte en cuivre noir, estimé deux-cents francs".
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
The balance spring (c. 1675) improved watches dramatically and introduced the minute hand. English pair-cased verge watches with pierced balance cocks and French oignons were typical; enamel painting at Blois and Geneva, and the repeating watch (1680s), made watches objects of great refinement.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology
Atlas type guide
Pocket watches
The pocket watch was the dominant personal timekeeper from the late seventeenth century until the First World War. Its development tracks the history of the escapement: verge watches with fusees until the late eighteenth century; Thomas Mudge's lever escapement (c. 1755) and the cylinder escapement popularised by George Graham and later by Swiss makers; and the Swiss and English lever watches of the nineteenth century. Lépine's bar-bridge calibre and keyless winding made watches thinner and easier to use.
Industrialisation transformed the trade: American factories such as Waltham (from 1850) and Elgin produced interchangeable parts by machine, and Swiss makers responded with their own mechanisation after the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition. By 1900 a reliable watch was affordable to millions; the finest makers continued to produce complications and precision watches.
What to look for
- The escapement: verge (crown wheel), cylinder, duplex, English or Swiss lever.
- Key winding (a square arbor in dial or back) or keyless crown winding.
- Signatures and serial numbers on the movement, dial and inside case back.
- Hallmarks, case maker's marks and gold or silver standards stamped in the case.
- Dial material: enamel, silver, gold, later printed metal.
Dating clues
- Verge watches dominate before c. 1800; cylinder watches c. 1770–1900; lever watches after c. 1820.
- Keyless winding: increasingly common after c. 1860.
- Manufacturer serial number lists exist for Waltham, Elgin, Longines, Omega, Patek Philippe and others.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Verge escapementDetached lever escapementIdentification Centre
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