Hand-Painted Treen Watch Stand, Lily of the Valley, c.1900
A turned wood pocket watch stand, hand-painted with lily of the valley, made on the Continent around 1900. A pocket watch rests face-out in the ring at the top, its pendant sitting in the cut at the crown, so the watch could be shown on a dresser or kept to hand overnight.
The lily of the valley runs in trailing sprays around the cradle and across the dished foot, cream bell-flowers over green on a dark ground. The flower, muguet, was a staple of the French decorative trade around 1900 and a common motif in Art Nouveau ornament. Behind the ring the recessed bed is packed with golden silk floss, laid to cushion the watch against the wood.
The stand is turned as a single baluster stem on a wide foot. It is firm and original throughout. The painted decoration on the foot is rubbed and worn from use, the greens gone patchy, while the cradle border reads more clearly. The silk floss is intact but frayed at its edges. No maker's mark. It stands 100mm tall.
