Watch of Joséphine de BEAUHARNAIS, (1763-1814), Empress. - Lot 265

Lot n° 265
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Estimation :
10000 - 15000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 104 000EUR
Watch of Joséphine de BEAUHARNAIS, (1763-1814), Empress. - Lot 265
Watch of Joséphine de BEAUHARNAIS, (1763-1814), Empress. Jean-Baptiste BAILLON in Paris (1702-1772). Beautiful enameled pocket watch. Round case in yellow gold 750/1000. Finely chased, enameled and guilloché case back and bezel, decorated with a romantic scene depicting a couple and an old man against a landscape background. White enamel dial, painted Arabic and Roman numerals, railway track. Gilded Roskopf hands. Mineral crystal. Mechanical movement with key winding, cock movement, verge escapement, signed "Baillon". Diameter: 46mm. Gross weight: 61.89g. Circa 1760. Watch in good condition. Working mechanism. Bears an aluminum pastille from the collections of Prince Victor NAPOLEON stamped "4306". Provenance : -Empress JOSEPHINE -Jean-Thomas Arrighi de CASANOVA, first Duke of Padua -Collection prince Victor NAPOLEON n°4306 -Collection prince Louis NAPOLEON -Charles BONAPARTE, Princess Catherine NAPOLEON and Princess Laure NAPOLEON -Acquired by Countess Viviane de WITT. Numerous BAILLON watches can still be found in private and public collections, including those of the Louvre Museum, the Château de Versailles, the Galileo Museum in Florence, the Petit Palais in Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Biographies : Jean-Baptiste Baillon de Bontenay, (-1772), French watchmaker received the title of Master in 1727. Acquired the prestigious title of First Chamber Valet to Queen Marie Leczynska in 1751, then to the Dauphine Marie-Antoinette in 1770. He also supplied the Spanish royal family. Watches were often decorated with enamel depicting episodes from the Old Testament or mythological scenes. Jean-Thomas Arrighi de Casanova (1778-1853), 1st Duke of Padua. General and politician of the French Revolution and Empire. Related to Bonaparte, he served him faithfully, taking part in all his campaigns. After the fall of the Empire, he went into exile in Lombardy before returning to France in 1820, where he settled in his château de Courson. EMPRESS JOSÉPHINE DE BEAUHARNAIS (1763-1814) Marie Joseph Rose de Tascher de La Pagerie, (1763-1814). Married Alexandre de Beauharnais in 1779, from whom she soon separated after the birth of her two children, Eugène and Hortense. Her husband was guillotined in 1794. Met the young General Bonaparte in autumn 1795, who fell passionately in love with her and married her on March 9, 1796. Renamed Joséphine by Napoleon, she accompanied him on his prodigious ascent. A well-informed patron of the arts, she played a major role in the development of the arts under the First Empire. Very attentive to her appearance, she spent lavishly on toiletries and sumptuous finery. After her divorce in 1809, she retained ownership of the Malmaison estate and received the title of Duchess of Navarre. Temporary import The buyer must pay import duties of 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the item is immediately re-exported outside the European Union. Work in temporary import The buyer will have to pay import fees of 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the buyer immediately re-exports the lot outside the European Union. According to the typewritten inventory book of the Prince Victor Napoléon collection, n°4306 is described as follows: Small gold watch by Baillon in Paris - enamel case with three figures: an old man between a young man and a young woman in a garden. Belonged to Empress JOSEPHINE (Provenance: Le Duc de PADOUE)
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