A Place to Hang a Pocket Watch for the Night

 

QUESTION: Recently, while browsing a local antique show, I came across a dealer with a display of oddly looking little pieces. They didn’t seem to have any function and each had a large hole or cavity, so I asked her what they were. She said they were pocket watch holders. I had never seen anything like them before since pocket watches went out of style in the mid 20th century. Why would a person need a pocket watch holder? Wouldn’t they just place their pocket watch on a chest top or nightstand at the end of the day? What can you tell me about these curious little items?

ANSWER: During the 19th Century people used pocket watch holders, often referred to as a watch hutches, to hang their pocket watches in overnight to protect them from loss or damage—it’s better for the watch mechanism if it hangs vertically rather than lying flat. These watch holders also converted any pocket watch into small table or mantel clocks in a room that didn't contain a clock. They also made perfect bedside clocks, before the advent of alarm clocks.

During the second half of the 19th Century, cast iron was the most common material for making pocket watch holders. Artisans covered these unsightly cast pieces with gilded bronze to simulate gold. Artisans sculpted the original designs to represent forms in nature, such as vines and leaves or figural representations of country life. Mounted on a marble base and standing between 7 and 8 inches tall, they were quite heavy.

Each holder featured either a round frame with a metal pocket in which to place the watch, or a metal hook from which to hang it. Fanciful designs often featured Baroque cherubs.

Craftsmen cast less expensive versions in spelter, a heavy zinc and lead alloy, over which they applied a bronze wash or brightly colored paint. They sculpted the originals of animals or single figurines. One example shows a peasant girl carrying a garland wreath. Another depicts a young girl in a sheer, swirling dress which swirls in front to form a tray for cufflinks, watch chain, or coins. Still another example, depicts a parrot either about to land on or take off from a branch and painted a bright chartreuse and red.

The French called them porte montre, meaning “watch stand.” Parisian artisans fashioned ornate watch holders for wealthy travelers visiting Paris on the Grand Tour. Pocket watches were a necessity during this era and fine shops along the Palais Royal specialized in selling unusual and whimsical accessories to hold pocket watches at the end of the day.

These holders came in a variety of decorative styles, from Neoclassical to Regency and on to the opulence of Napoleon III. After the 1860s, watch holder makers explored the styles of the day, such as Rococo Revival and Renaissance Revival. As the 20th century dawned, artisans created holders in the styles of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts—and by the mid-1920s, Art Deco.

Parisian artisans created some of the most elaborate pocket watch holders. Resembling a larger version of the famed Limoge porcelain box, these became known as a casque porte montre, or pocket watch casket.

By the late 19th century watch holders could be found in a vast variety of shapes and forms. Champlevé, an enameling technique in which craftsmen carved, etched, die struck, or cast troughs into the surface of a metal object, then filled these troughs with vitreous enamel. was especially popular. After the initial preparation, they then fired the piece until the enamel fused, and when cooled, polished the surface of the object. The uncarved portions of the original surface remained visible as a frame for the enamel designs. The name, champlevé comes from the French for "raised field," or background, though the technique in practice lowers the area to be enameled rather than raising the rest of the surface.

Developed in the late 19th Century, these little gems usually often featured a beveled glass box mounted on sculpted brass legs. While some had an eglomise, or back painted view of Paris, most were clear glass.

One fine example is a French cristal d' opale rose “hortensia” or “gorge de pigeon,” hand embellished with raised enamel flowers and gilt accents. The rich iridescent pink “hortensia” opaline glass is beautifully supported by delicate ormolu mounts.

One of the more unusual examples of a watch holder originated during the gilded age of Napoleon III. Made in the form of a soldier's helmet which sits on a white marble base, its hand cut gilded brass is meticulously tooled to form the front and back of the hat. The crown of the helmet is of white opaline, with a gilded brass finial. It has a hand tooled gilded mount at the bottom. The helmet top opens to reveal a pocket watch holder mounted with a gilded brass frame. A "U" shaped hook at the top holds the watch while the interior, lined with red velvet, is typical of this opulent period.

Pocket watch holder makers also produced dramatic designs drawn from Nature. On one example, an eagle with its wings outspread and perched on a festoon of arrows and laurel leaves, holds an elongated hook. The top of the piece has a very large cartouche made of two curved cornucopia and a central swan, with neck curved downward, perched on a fleur de lis. A half-moon festoon of laurel leaves flow from one cornucopia to the other.

Also originating in Paris is cast bronze watch holder, designed by 19th-century French artist, Emile Joseph Cartier, featuring a little bird alighting atop a cascading vine of leaves which spill onto the base of the bottom mount. The detail of the little bird—its feathers, sweet expression, and outstretched wings give him a very lifelike appearance. In his beak he holds a curved stick onto which to hang a watch. A half-egg shape bowl, ornamented with leaves and berries, which could hold coins or other jewelry items, rests below him.

Yet another, made of bronze/metal, features painted detailing to give the effect of fine porcelain. The chubby little body of a cherub with his hands outstretched stands on a cradle made from an egg. He has delicate wings and wears a quiver around his waist, as well as delicate detailing to his fingers and toes and the feathers of his wings. His bow serves as the support for the pocket watch, which hangs within the sculpture design.

Specifically designed and carved as souvenirs are a group of pocket watch holders from towns in the 19th-century "Black Forest" area of Switzerland, Germany, parts of France and Italy, where they pleased travelers on the Grand Tour. These hand carved treasures range from whimsical small bears to large watch holders and wall plaques showing the most realistic anatomical studies of stag, fowl, and "fruits of the hunt."

One of the most important French artists of the 1920s, Maurice Frecourt, known for his animal sculptures, produced watch holders in the sleek style of Art Deco. After the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, designers embraced the geometric style of Art Deco. One of his watch holders features a stylized bird standing at the edge of a bowl with its wings up and touching and mounted on a black and green veined piece of octagonal marble. He engraved this piece with detailed feathers both in front and in the back.

Some pocket watch holders imitated other clock cases, only in miniature. Each evening the pocket watch owner placed his watch into the hole where the clock face would be.

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It's a Small, Small World

QUESTION: I love old jewelry. Recently, I attended an antique show and one of the dealers had a case of old jewelry that got my attention. I was drawn to a beautiful old handpainted brooche. When I asked about it, the dealer said that it wasn’t painted at all but was made of hundreds of tiny glass pieces assembled in a mosaic scene. He said this method was called “micromosaic.” I wanted to buy the brooche on the spot, but it’s price was out of my range. Can you tell me what “micromosaic” is and a little about its history?

ANSWER: Sir Arthur Gilbert, a wealthy 20th-century collector, came up with the term “micromosaic” to describe Roman mosaics composed of little glass bricks called tesserae. Roman jewelers sold this type of miniature mosaic, made up of 1,500 to 5,000 pieces per square inch, to Victorian ladies on the Grand Tour in the early and mid-19th century.

While the most common forms were brooches and pendants, Roman jewelers also sold micromosaics in combinations called a parure, consisting of a matching necklace, earrings, brooch, bracelet and often a diadem or tiara. A variation on this is the demiparure which consists of as few as two matching pieces, such as earrings and a necklace or brooch. They also sold the pieces individually. Cemented to a glass, stone, or metal background and framed, the glass tesserae were originally so small that these pieces appeared to have been painted or enameled—that is until examined under a microscope.

The Victorians developed a passionate interest in the Classical Period of antiquities. They could purchase a brooche or other piece of jewelry containing an image of the Colosseum, the ancient ruins of Pompeii, or the beautiful scenery of the Italian countryside. To them, the jewelry acted as a wearable souvenir of their travels. Other popular motifs included miniature versions of ancient architectural mosaics, ancient wall paintings like those found at Herculean, King Charles spaniels, and mythological and religious figures.

Micro mosaic jewelry originated at the Vatican, which had its own secret formula for making glass-like enamel tesserae. During the mid-1770s, a few of the Vatican artists began making miniature mosaic art using tiny tessarae, creating the first micromosaics. They crafted miniature boxes, crosses, and jewelry to sell to visitors using typical Roman ruins and other familiar scenes of Italy.

The excavations at Pompeii, which had been completely covered by the volcanic eruption in A.D.79, uncovered a city that provided a glimpse of an ancient civilization almost beyond belief to the Victorian travelers. The mosaic columns, garden fountains and stone floors, some dating as early as the second century B.C.,were breathtakingly beautiful and found their way into the art of micromosaics.

Soon, commercial mosaic studios began opening in Rome, offering the rapidly growing tourist market micromosaic mementos of ancient Roman ruins. In the early days, the average European traveler could only afford micro mosaics set into pill boxes and paperweights, but wealthier travelers could afford elaborate pictures, tabletops, and jewelry.

Perhaps the most important designer of micromosiac jewelry was Castellani, an Italian workshop founded in 1814 and run by artisan Fortunato Pio Castellani and craftsman and Dante scholar Michelangelo Caetani. They took much of their inspiration from archaeological digs in ancient Rome and Egypt. Castellani’s artisans set their unusually fine micromosaic work  in gold frames, adorned with Etruscan filigree and granulation. Often, they would incorporate Latin sayings in their mosaic designs, using Roman capitals surrounded by geometric designs.

The work of the Castellani family greatly influenced another famous Italian jeweler, Carlo Guiuliano. During the 1860s, he set up shop in London. His work concentrated more on the reproduction of Italian Renaissance jewelry than Roman and Etruscan designs, fashioning his pieces to Victorian taste. After his death, his two sons, Frederico and Ferdinando, continued the business until it closed in 1914. A signed Guiuliano gold necklace, matching brooch and earrings, with Roman mosaic of putti, muses and flowers, is worth about $5,000 to $6,000 in today's market.

Crafstmen made their micromosaic jewelry similar to larger pieces. They glued small sections of fine rods of colored glass into patterns or pictures within a frame of hardstone or colored glass. They then set the whole piece in an outer gold or silver frame that gave added protection to the fragile center.

Besides ancient ruins, subjects included flowers, such as delicately shaded roses, lilies, violets and carnations which were symbols of love and friendship in Victorian times. Birds and insects were also popular. Many micromosaics portray the dove—a common symbol of purity and peace.

As the 19th century came to an end and more and more middle class tourists visited Italy, jewelers began to cut corners with their micromosaic pieces. They began using larger pieces of glass and shoddy workmanship in order to keep up with the demand for less expensive pieces. Many of the pieces available today come from the 1890s to the 1920s.

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