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Image for Watch for Napoleon’s Mother, Letizia Bonaparte
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Watch for Napoleon’s Mother, Letizia Bonaparte Thumbnail
Watch for Napoleon’s Mother, Letizia Bonaparte Thumbnail
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Watch for Napoleon’s Mother, Letizia Bonaparte

Pierre Benjamin Tavernier (French, 1758 - ca. 1820) (Jeweler)
Basile Charles Le Roy (French, 1765 - 1839) (Clockmaker)
Letizia Bonaparte (French, 1750 - 1836) (Patron)
1805-1809
guilloché gold, basse-taille enamel, pearl, diamond
(18th and 19th Centuries )

This unusual watch has no numbers, it belongs to a type called "montres à tact" or discrete watches. The clever design allows the time to be told by touch alone, feeling the four diamonds on the hour and the quarters, and the pearls that mark the remaining divisions of the twelve hours. The raised arrow, also in diamonds, contrasts with the smooth surrounding enamel, taking the place of watch hands. It was made for Maria Letizia Bonaparte, Napoleon’s mother, who lost her sight as she aged.

The case employs a process called guilloché, where subtle but kaleidoscopic effects are created through mechanical means. Geometric shapes are carved into metal by engine turning. The resulting patterns of fine lines are covered with transparent enamel, when light hits them it creates oscillating optic effects.

Inscription

[Inscription] On movement: LE ROY Hgr. DE S.A. Ile ET Rle. MADAME A PARIS 2691; [Number] Inscribed on case: 2896

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Nobile Maria Letizia Bonaparte née Ramolino [1750-1836], Italy, after May 26, 1805; inherited (?) by Princess Mathilde Letitia Wilhelmine [1820-1904]. Acquired by Anatole Demidoff, Prince of San Donato [1812-1870]. Tiffany and Company, New York, prior to 1893 [1]. Acquired by Henry Walters, Baltimore; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

[1] no. 23 on 1893 list

Exhibitions

2001-2005 Pearls. American Museum of Natural History, New York; The Field Museum, Chicago; Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta; Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston; Midland Center for the Arts, Midland; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
1999-2000 Vive la France! French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1984 Objects of Vertu: Precious Works of the Eighteenth Century. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
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Geographies

France, Paris (Place of Origin)

Measurements

Diam: 2 in. (5.1 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters

Location in Museum

Not on view

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

58.33

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Hours

  • Wednesday—Sunday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
  • Thursday: 1–8 p.m.
  • Monday—Tuesday: Closed

Location

600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

Phone

410-547-9000

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