Watch Case with Lot and His Daughters

Description This case was painted in enamel in France using a technique developed in Blois in the 1630s. Because the watch was intended for the Dutch market, the scene chosen is based on a painting by the renowned Dutch painter Cornelis van Poelenburch of the biblical subject of Lot and his daughters. The rear view of one daughter who has removed her clothes might stir the imagination, especially when the cool watch was held in a warm (male) hand. The finished case was sent to a watchmaker in The Hague, P. van Keulen, who made and signed the watch movement, or mechanism, and fit it into the case.

Provenance Robert Hoe Collection Sale, American Art Association, New York, February 15, 1911, no. 2302; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1911, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by William T. or Henry Walters