Watch

Jacques Goullons

ca. 1645–50 · Case and dial: painted enamel on gold with brass hand; Movement: gilded brass and partly blued steel · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Goullons specialized in watch movements with painted enamel cases, including one for King Louis XIV. This case exterior’s miniatures depict the Virgin and Child with an angel, copying an engraving by Pierre Daret, and Joseph being awakened by an angel, after an engraving by Michel Dorigny. These engravings recorded paintings by Simon Vouet. Such enameled watchcases are rarely signed, and the best enamelers were so adept at reproducing the style of their sources that individual masters are difficult to identify.

Artist

Jacques Goullons

Date

ca. 1645–50

Medium

Case and dial: painted enamel on gold with brass hand; Movement: gilded brass and partly blued steel

Culture

French, probably Paris

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917