Ball-shaped Glass Desk Clock With Erotic Decoration

A glass ball-shaped desk clock with erotic decoration. Gilt metal and brass mount, thick spherical glass at the top and bottom. Painted dial with an erotic motif and a movable penis. Swiss mechanical movement with a free-hanging anchor escapement, bimetallic, split, and compensated balance wheel. Signed FS. With automatic movement: the penis moves continuously while the clock is running. The clock is held in place by a flat surface on the back glass. Good used condition, in working order. Height with bail: 9 cm. Diameter: 6.5 cm. Erotic watches emerged at the end of the 17th century with the advent of minute repeater movements. Watchmakers began to conceal erotic scenes within the covers of pocket watches. These pocket watches were primarily manufactured in England, France, or Geneva. The back-and-forth motion of hammers striking the bell was used to indicate the time. The system thus allowed, at the same time, the creation of miniature figures, pastoral scenes, or risqué scenes. And without taboo: monks, priests, and nuns were, at the time, inexhaustible sources of inspiration... These timepieces were often part of the bride's wedding basket... And the bride would then distribute them to her bridesmaids. A discreet little pleasure. Seized, destroyed, and even banned from manufacture in Geneva in 1817, these libertine watches fell victim to the prevailing puritanism. Consequently, the antique models that have "survived" to this day are rare.