Serpent Porte-Montre in Brass, Signed Dinant, c.1910
A pocket watch stand cast in brass as a serpent, made in Dinant and struck with the town's name on the coil.
Dinant sits on the Meuse in the Belgian Ardennes and gave its name to dinanderie, the hand-worked decorative brass produced there since the medieval period. Work made in the town was marked DINANT for its origin. The serpent was a favourite subject in the years either side of 1900, and it lends itself to exactly this purpose: the tail winds into a flat ring that steadies the piece on a desk, the body rises and turns back on itself, and the open mouth becomes the hook that takes a pocket watch by its bow.
The whole length is chased by hand. Close ring-scales run around the tail loop, a diamond pattern covers the back of the body, and the head is modelled with parted jaws. It stands 12.5cm to the top of the head on a base 8.5cm across, and holds an open-face watch upright, turning it into a small standing clock for a desk or bedside.
The brass carries the even colour and light wear of its age and has not been polished bright. It stands square and firm on its coil. Struck DINANT.
