Introduction
20100M
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Rare Handcrafts
Dome table clock in cloisonné enamel.
This unique piece in Grand Feu cloisonné enamel celebrates one of Nature’s curiosities. The Carolina Parakeet, the only parrot species indigenous to North America, used to be present in large numbers in the south-east of the United States, but became extinct in the early twentieth century.
Creating the contours of the birds, the branches, the foliage and the fruit required 38.71 m of gold wire (43.1 g) measuring 0.15 x 0.6 mm in cross-section. The plumage, with its flamboyant greens, reds and yellows, called for a palette of 16 enamel colors. Fifteen of these were transparent, lending themselves to layering and creating a sense of depth. Each enameled plate underwent 11 firings at a temperature of approximately 840°C. An hour circle with black enameled Breguet numerals frames a dial center guilloched beneath transparent russet-colored enamel in a splendid example of flinqué enameling.
This piece is powered by the caliber 17’’’ PEND mechanical movement rewound by an electric motor.
