Wall-Hung Watch Holder in Gilt and Blister Pearl, c.1880
A wall-hanging pocket watch holder in gilt metal and mother-of-pearl, made in the late 19th century. Holders like this hung in a bedroom or dressing room: the owner's pocket watch was lifted from the pocket at night and hooked over the wire at the top, where it hung against the round gilt surround and read as a small wall clock until morning. The recess and the shell below took rings and small jewellery.
The lower half is set with a large natural mother-of-pearl blister shell, the full convex face of the shell rather than a flat cut plaque, with a strong pink and green orient that shifts across it as it moves in the light. It sits tight in a beaded gilt bezel and is scalloped along its natural top edge.
The gilt body is stamped from sheet metal, waisted between the round watch surround at the top and a pointed finial at the foot. A naturalistic floral spray is worked in repousse at the centre, framed by scalloped and beaded borders that run the length of the piece. The crest above the surround is a separately cast rococo-revival mount with a central oval cartouche, and the original bent wire that carries the watch rises from it.
There are no maker's marks anywhere on the piece, and the metal is gilt base metal rather than silver or gold. The naturalistic shell and the folk-style repousse point to Continental work, most likely Dutch or German, of around 1870 to 1890.
It is complete and stable. The gilt is honestly rubbed on the crest and around the surround, the stamped decoration stays crisp, and the shell is solid in its frame with natural surface lines and no chips or losses. Overall length 22cm. No box or papers.
