Watch

Anthoine Arlaud

ca. 1620–30 · Case: rock crystal, with gilded silver mounts; Dial: silver, partly gilded; Movement: gilded brass and steel · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Arlaud, a Huguenot refugee from the French Auvergne, was the first in a dynasty of Geneva watchmakers. He became a burgher in Geneva in 1617. The form of this watch and the scene of the Risen Christ, with the emblems of the Passion, are surely reminders of the brevity of life on earth and of the importance of the salvation of the soul.

Artist

Anthoine Arlaud

Date

ca. 1620–30

Medium

Case: rock crystal, with gilded silver mounts; Dial: silver, partly gilded; Movement: gilded brass and steel

Culture

Swiss, Geneva

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917