Description
Antique pottery early 19th century watcholder in silver lustre (luster).
Probably from the Staffordshire or Yorkshire potters England.
The watch holder is finely decorated with a resist technique often used in silver lustre decoration from this period.
It is very rare to find this watch holder form produced in silver luster.
EXHIBITION….IF THESE POTS COULD TALK.
This gem of a pottery watch holder is unusual and rare as it is decorated in silver lustre. I have never seen one in lustre and as far as I know it is an unrecorded example in any of the standard reference books.
This lustre technique was developed in Staffordshire in the 1810/20 period.
At a glance silver lustre appears to be made of silver a much more expensive material than pottery.This watchholder would have been made in circa 1820 and this piece was were not only functional but gave the decorative appearance of something quite valuable.
The pocket watch could be safely kept in the watchholder perhaps on the mantlepiece and would give the effect of it being a mantle clock. This was a great way of “keeping up with the Jones’s” if you could not afford a mantle clock and pocket watch.
Can you imagine our working man coming home from hard days labour and taking his pocket watch from his waistcoat and looking with satisfaction of the illusion of his mantle clock?. Interestingly pottery pocket watches were produced which would have sat in the watch holder whilst the pocket watch was out of the house. These pottery watches are very rare as few survived, they were possibly given to children to play with in later times.