Science and Love attempting to prevent the passing on Time after F.-G. Ménageot (1744-1816) Snuff-box - Enamel by Jean-Abraham Lissignol, Geneva - ca. 1810.

PATEK PHILIPPE MUSEUM

The second floor (I) :

The antique collection

The sixteenth to nineteenth centuries

The second floor of the PATEK PHILIPPE MUSEUM invites the visitor to disover the first three centuries of the horological art, through five hundred of the most important pieces from Geneva's and Europe's heritage, together with a splendid collection of miniature portraits on enamel, created by the great Geneva masters.

The first watches
When was the first watch invented? None of the experts is prepared to hazard an opinion as to the exact date or place, or the name of an inventor. Its ancestor, the mechanical clock, first appeared in the western world around the twelfth century, the fruit of efforts that began some 3,500 years ago to measure time by means of sundials and clepsydras, and later, the hourglass. The first mechanical clocks were huge constructions and almost four centuries passed before the invention of the mainspring and the gradual miniaturisation of parts paved the way for the timepiece that is worn and treasured today.

The PATEK PHILIPPE MUSEUM presents some of the finest examples of timepieces built in the period between 1500 and 1675, including an extremely old German drum-watch dating from approximately 1530-1540 and housing a movement entirely in iron, in an elegant cylindrical case of delicately engraved gilt metal (Inv. S-457). The watch in the form of the Cross of the Order of the Holy Ghost, signed by Abraham Cusin (ca. 1630-1635) (Inv. S-473) illustrates the fact that timepieces created in France almost a century later were designed to reflect, by their elaborate forms and decoration, the value attached to possessing such an instrument.

Richly decorated by Etienne Este, a bassine-cased watch with astronomical indications demonstrates the high level of skill achieved by the Geneva watchmakers between 1660 and 1670 (Inv. S-280). Two intriguing designs from the preceding century reflect the fact that, as an object of adornment worn at the neck or the waist, the watch could take on a symbolic meaning, either sacred or profane, and thus express the wearer's beliefs and values: the Memento Mori (~1650-60) by Marc Lagisse, whose case in the shape of a human skull reminds one that life is not eternal (Inv. S-477), and the fantastical form of the Dolphin by Jean-Baptiste Duboule (~1660), inspired by a motif dear to the nobility of the times (Inv. S-326).

The PATEK PHILIPPE MUSEUM houses many masterpieces of miniature painting on enamel from this early period. Notable amongst those of religious inspiration is the magnificent watch with cover by the Parisian watchmaker, François Baronneau (~1640-45) whose opulent bassine case depicts on all its surfaces the Story of the Holy Virgin, in a series of miniature paintings attributed to the Parisian School (Inv.S-199). This artist probably also created the remarkable Passion of Christ in grisaille on a bassine-cased watch whose movement is signed by A. Mazurier (~1650). A fine book cover, painted on both sides with a Sacra Conversazione and the Adoration of the Shepherds after Titian is the work of an anonymous artist from South Germany (~1670) (Inv.E-82).

Antiquity and its mythology also inspired works of outstanding quality. A painting on enamel of Vertumnus and Pomona, on the back of a pendant with mirror dating from the 1640s, (Inv. E-86), illustrates Henri Toutin's consummate skill, inspired here by Ovid. The vivid enamels of the Theagenes and Charicleia after Charles Poerson, attributed to the Blois miniaturist Robert Vauquer(Inv.S-200), adorn a superb bassine-cased watch with cover by the Parisian, Denis Champion (~1655).

...to Geneva
At the end of the seventeenth century, France lost all those of its miniaturists on enamel who had adopted the Protestant faith, and they were many. A century of religious persecution wiped out a noble tradition, which emigrated to countries that were friendly to the Reformation, especially Geneva. These exiled artists founded the Genevan art of painting on enamel, beginning with the Huaud dynasty, and continuing with that of the Mussards. The future of painting on enamel was henceforth in the hands of Geneva's artists. The latter, either travelling the world, or working at home for the Geneva institution known as the " Fabrique ", raised their art, now free of any utilitarian base, to the ultimate level of refinement.

The miniature portrait, that most formidable test of an enameller's skill, became a privileged means of expression for the artists who forged Geneva's reputation as the capital of craftsmanship in Europe. From 1640 to 1750, the history of the decorative arts was enriched by the prestigious names of Petitot, Bordier and Liotard, who frequented every Court in Europe, from England to distant Russia. They created a strong tradition that the Geneva school would perpetuate right up to the mid-nineteenth century.

The PATEK PHILIPPE MUSEUM possesses some of the greatest works by Jean Petitot, the son of a family of Protestant refugees. His miniature portrait of Georges Villiers, Duke of Buckingham (London, 1640, Inv.E-76) is of such quality that it actually enhances the charm of the subject of the famous painting by Gerrit Von Honsthorst, which no doubt inspired the enameller. This very rare piece is one of a collection of nine miniatures from Petitot's London period. There is also a portrait of Louis XIV, king of France, in the original frame (Paris, ca. 1670, Inv. E-66).
The art of the pastellist, Jean-Etienne Liotard, is beautifully displayed in a portrait of Charles-Edouard Stuart, the Young Pretender, Prince of Scotland, in its fine original frame of enamelled gold (Rome, ca. 1736, Inv. E-01).
These two great artists rub shoulders with other miniaturists (Louis de Guernier, the Huaud Brothers and Gregori S. Mussikinski) and other portraits of great historical figures, such as the Marquis of Sévigné, Sophie-Charlotte de Hanovre and Pierre le Grand, tsar of Russia.

The second period, from 1760 to 1830, introduces the visitor to the miniature portraits on enamel by artists of the Geneva school. At the time of the French Revolution, Geneva was the acknowledged capital of this delicate art, and possessed some eighty artists specialised in the decoration of luxury items, mainly for export. The small number of women in the group included the enigmatic Elisabeth Terroux, who chose to live abroad, as did her fellow artists, Jacques Thouron and Jean-François Soiron.
In 1760, as its artistry progressed, Geneva invented " flux ", the transparent enamel which, when applied to the painting like a varnish, gives it an extraordinary depth and luminosity. This revolutionary technique was initially reserved for watch cases and snuff-boxes from the " Fabrique ".

The collection's fine portraits include: Man in a brown suit, by Jean-François Favre (Geneva, dated 1778, Inv. E-117), Françoise Mégret d'Etigny by Jacques Thouron after Danloux (Genéva, 1783-85, Inv. E-133) and the Young Man in front of Lake Geneva by Jean-François Soiron (Paris,dated 1802, Inv. E127). There are also some enchanting snuff-boxes painted with miniature scenes and using the technique of enamel under flux: Science and Love attempting to stay passing time by J.-A. Lissignol, Geneva (~1810, Inv. E-149) after G. Ménageot and a View of Geneva and the Mont Blanc from Pregny, by J.-L. Richter and A.-J. Troll, Geneva (~1815, Inv. E-08).