Art Nouveau Porte-Montre, Two-Tone Brass and Silvered Leaves
A porte-montre: a stand made to hold an open-face pocket watch upright, so it reads as a small desk or bedside clock. The watch hangs by its bow from the hooked rail at the top of the frame and rests against the round plate below.
The frame is brass rod in a warm gold tone, built as a narrow rectangular easel that props on a rear leg and stands on its own. The decoration is where the Art Nouveau taste shows: a spray of three cast leaves and a single rosebud in a silvered finish, set against the gold of the frame, the stems gathered by a fine twisted-wire binding and running out into whiplash scrolls that form the feet. The two-tone, gold against silver, is deliberate.
It stands 14.5cm tall, with a plate of about 4cm to take the watch. There are no maker's marks. Condition is very good: solid and stable, complete and unrepaired, the frame bright, with only light patina to the reverse of the plate.
