Watch, Bernard, Nicolas, Paris, 1640-1650
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1640-1650
Watch, Bernard, Nicolas, Paris, 1640-1650 is an object recorded by Victoria and Albert Museum, dated 1640-1650. The museum's brief description reads: Watch with enamelled gold case depicting Faith, Hope and Charity, made by Nicolas Bernard, Paris, 1640-1650.
Museum description: Watch with gold case decorated with painted enamel, the movement of gilt brass and blued steel. The case is painted with Charity on the front, and Faith and Hope on the back. The sides, dial, reverse of the lid and interior of the case are painted with landscape scenes. The dial has a single double-ended hand, gilt and engraved. The movement has a verge escapement with steel balance wheel. The single-foot balance cock and the cover for the ratchet regulator are pierced and engraved.
Brass plates and wheels. Fusee with renewed gut line. The museum record gives material recorded as gold, enamel, gilt metal, brass (alloy), steel; measurements Diameter 58 mm; Height 70 mm; Depth 23 mm; place associated: Paris; maker recorded: Bernard, Nicolas. These details come from the holding museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
The case of this watch is a fine example of an important development in the history of enamelling. In about 1630 improved techniques made it possible to execute miniature painting in enamel in a wide range of colours. The metal was covered with an enamel ground and fired in the kiln. It was then painted with metal oxides mixed with oil. Each colour had to be fired in turn to fuse it onto the enamel ground. Such was the potential of the new technique that some watchcases, like this one, became wider and flatter to provide an extensive surface for enamelling. The technique was used to decorate watchcases and other goldsmiths' work as well as to paint portraits in minature. The key figures in this development, among whom the leading role is given to Jean Toutin (1578-1644), were enamellers and goldsmiths in Paris, Blois and Châteaudun who had close links with watchmakers. There has been considerable discussion about how the techniques employed in the new painted enamels differed from those which went before, but it is apparent that the effect was different: previously it had not been possible to create enamel paintings in such a wide range of colours as to rival or to copy an oil painting. Nicolas Bernard, who put his name to the movement of the watch, became a master in the Paris Corporation of Clockmakers in 1636. He had a son in 1642 and died in 1670. In 1645 he was one of five watchmakers who put forward twenty-four articles to provide a new constitution for the…
Physical characteristics
- Material
- gold, enamel, gilt metal, brass (alloy), steel
- Dimensions
- Diameter 58 mm; Height 70 mm; Depth 23 mm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Gold with painted enamel; gilt-metal, brass and blued steel movement
- Maker recorded
- Bernard, Nicolas
- Place recorded
- Paris
Design
- Inscriptions recorded
- 'Nicolas Bernard A Paris'
Identification
- Museum attribution
- Bernard, Nicolas
- Museum object name
- Watch
- Museum object number
- 2359-1855
- Museum system number
- O377038
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm materials, dimensions, maker and wider type against the museum record and a specialist reference.