PATEK PHILIPPE "COQ CHANTECLER" MANUFACTURED... Lot 8

PATEK PHILIPPE "COQ CHANTECLER" MANUFACTURED IN MAY 1908 AND SOLD IN FEBRUARY 1909 Important pocket watch in 18K yellow and polychrome enamel. CASE: in smooth yellow gold with, on the face, a magnificent enamelled decoration representing a rooster in the guise of Constant Coquelin, illustrating his role in the play "Chantecler" by Edmond Rostand. On the reverse side, his initials, two intertwined Cs, enamelled orange and blue. Vat dedicated: "To Mr C. Coquelin, memory of his devoted friend, Manuel d' Huicque, Paris, le.... 1909, 1st of Chantecler". Second dedication inside the cover: "To my friend Dean, in memory of my father, Jean Coquelin, 1917". DIAL: white enamel with painted "Breguet" numerals, railway, small seconds at 6 o'clock and pear-shaped hands. MOVEMENT: mechanical, anchor escapement. Dial, case, bowl and movement signed. Numbered 149342/257168. DIAM. 58 mm. GROSS WEIGHT : 178,61 gr. WITH : original case and certificate of origin. Letters from Guillermin & Mollet, Place Vendôme, Paris and from Patek Philippe, dated April 1972. An important gold pocket watch by Patek Philippe with original box and certificate. It was produced in May 1908 and sold in February 1909. The watch was beautifully decorated for Constant Coquelin as a gift for his role in the Edmond Rostand play "Chantecler". As mentioned in the letter from Patek Philippe dated April 11, 1972, at the request of Mr. Jean Coquelin, through the intermediary of the Maison Guillermin & Mollet, Place Vendôme in Paris, the watch was produced in May 1908 by Patek Philippe and sold on February 25, 1909 to the Maison Perusset & Didisheim. Mr. Manuel d' Huicque offered it to his friend Constant Coquelin on the occasion of the premiere of the play "Chantecler" scheduled for 1909 (a gap has been left for the exact date), as specified in the first dedication on the watch case. Constant Coquelin had been chosen to play the lead role in "Chantecler" by Edmond Rostand. However, the actor died prematurely in 1909, before the premiere, and the watch went to his son Jean, who gave it in 1917 to a friend "Dean, in memory of his father" (second dedication on the case). The watch was then sold at auction by the Chayette-Cheval House at the Hôtel Drouot on June 13, 1984, sold to the father of the current owner, who was a passionate collector of all objects related to the Rooster. N.B. the 1972 Patek Philippe letter does not mention any enamelled decoration in its Registers. However, the quality of the enamel workmanship and the realism of Constant Coquelin's features are evidence of an extremely accomplished craftsmanship. "Chantecler" is a play in four acts by Edmond Rostand, whose originality is to stage animals. For five years, it is constantly postponed to be finally represented for the first time on February 7, 1910 at the theater of the Porte-Saint-Martin in front of the whole Paris. Edmond Rostand himself chose Constant Coquelin to play "Chantecler" but he died before the premiere. The role was finally given to Lucien Guitry. "A rooster, Chantecler, reigns over a barnyard and is so convinced of his importance that he imagines that his crowing will make the sun rise. But the arrival of a pheasant hen turns his life upside down, revealing love to him in such a way that he forgets to crow. However, when the sun appears, Chantecler becomes the laughing stock of all domestic and wild animals, and especially of the owls, creatures of the night who hate him, and force him to accept a public fight with another rooster. The fight takes place in the literary salon of the Guinea Fowl. After nearly dying, Chantecler defends the barnyard against the threats of a sparrowhawk and thus recovers some of his prestige. Unjustly neglected, but understanding that in the rooster vanity is stronger than love, the pheasant nevertheless sacrifices herself for him and goes in his place to meet a hunter. A shot goes off, but it is the golden-voiced nightingale who is mortally wounded. The rooster's hoarse crow will alone continue to celebrate the dawn. " As mentioned in the letter from Patek Philippe dated April 11th 1972, at the request of Mr. Jean Coquelin, through the intermediary of the Maison Guillermin & Mollet, Place Vendôme in Paris, the watch was made in May 1908 by Patek Philippe and sold on February 25, 1909 to the Maison Perusset & Didisheim. Mr. Manuel d' Huicque offered it to his friend Constant Coquelin on the occasion of the premiere of the play "Chantecler" scheduled for 1909 (a gap has been left for the exact date), as specified in the first dedication on the case of the watch. Constant Coquelin had been chosen to play th