Watch Chatelaines In The Munson-Williams-Proctor

Magazine Antiques, April, 2001 by Janet Zapata

The precursor of the modern handbag was a device with a hook that was fastened to the belt or waistband and from which were suspended a variety of useful items, often including a watch. The form has existed in various configurations since the early Bronze Age (2100--1000 B.C.). [1] Until 1828 these objects were known as equipages (French for equipment). However, in modern terminology all forms are called chatelaines whether made before or after that date. [2]

In the sixteenth century, chatelaines included a variety of attachments such as keys, knives, pouches, rosaries, pomanders, books of hours, and mirrors. At that time a watch was worn separately, usually hanging from a chain around the neck. In the next century ladies started wearing their watches at their waist, looped over their belt with a chain.

During the eighteenth century fashionable accessories became an important complement to a lady's attire. In addition to the chatelaine, a fan and a snuffbox were among the bibelots often carried by members of society. The watch was now suspended from a simple chain, a chain with a swivel, or a chatelaine with a large decorative plaque from which hung smaller plaques. The watch hung from the center of the large plaque flanked by a watch key for winding it, a seal with an engraved crest (see P1. II), or other trinkets. Women favored these watch chatelaines while men preferred fobs by which to pull the watch from the pocket. The trinkets were attached to the exposed end of the fob.

Among the collectors of chatelaines that included watches were Thomas Redfield Proctor (1844-1920) and his half-brother Frederick Towne Proctor (1856-1929) who married two sisters, Rachel (1850-1915) and Maria (1853-1935), the daughters of Helen Munson Williams (1824-1894) and James Watson Williams (1810-1873) of Utica, New York. The Proctor couples traveled extensively in the United States and abroad collecting decorative arts objects and European paintings. The brothers each formed collections of timepieces and published catalogues of them early in the twentieth century. [3] In 1935 both collections were given to the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica as a single entity and it remains the largest and one of the most important watch and clock collections in the United States.

Although the Proctors were not the richest of the nation's turn-of-the-century private watch collectors when compared to Henry E. Huntington, John Pierpont Morgan, James Ward Packard, and Henry J. Heinz, they were second to none in their diligence and passion. Their joint collection includes nearly three hundred European watches and clocks made between about 1575 and 1910, with a preponderance of seventeenth- to late nineteenth-century watches, many of which include chatelaines. [4]

The earliest watch chatelaine in the museum's collection dates to the eighteenth century. At that time watches suspended from chatelaines were often enclosed within a second, outer case to protect the movement from dust and damage. Known as "pair-case" watches, they were usually made of silver, gold being reserved for fine watches by renowned watchmakers. An excellent example of the latter is shown in Plates Ia and Ib. The gold case is elaborately decorated with repousse chasing and pierced work and is richly set with precious stones. This watch is suspended from the chatelaine by a long double chain of pierced links, while flanking single chains hold the key and seal. The main decoration on the plaque at the top is a basket of ruby- and diamond-set flowers ringed by a row of diamonds and topped by a ruby-winged insect. The motif is similar to that in the so-called giardinetto (little garden) ring popular in the mid-eighteenth century. [5] A diamond-set forget-me-not decorates the watch key while the seal is set with a chalcedony intaglio of a classical bust, which has been identified as that of the Roman emperor Augustus (r. 27 B.C.-A.D. 14). [6] The outer watchcase is decorated with a variation of the basket of flowers on a plaque. The hands are gold fleurs-de-lis set with diamonds (see P1. Ia). This is a richly decorated piece of jewelry by any standard.

By the middle of the eighteenth century the repousse technique of decorating silver and gold was the dominant method for embellishing watches and chatelaines. For additional visual effect, some sections were burnished and others left matte. Most motifs on watch chatelaines of this period are executed in the rococo style and feature scrollwork and medallions. Enclosed in asymmetrical cartouches of scrolls, flowers, shells, or leaves are biblical or mythological scenes and characters, and scenes from Virgil's Aeneid. A case in point is the repousse and chased outer watchcase of the pair-case watch in Plates IVa and IVb. It shows Dido enthroned with her right hand raised welcoming Aeneas, who approaches with his left arm raised. The scene is surrounded by rococo scrollwork. The chatelaine from which the watch is suspended (P1. IVa) is richly decorated with repousse and chased figures and patterns. The four pendant chains would have supported a case containing sewing implements, a pencil, a ruler, or other usefu l objects. The movement for this watch was made by Thomas Tompion, a London clock and watchmaker credited with being the first to create a working model of the deadbeat escapement in which the pallet is so shaped as to reduce the effect of friction and irregularities in the gear train. This watch predates his use of this escapement, but Tompion belongs to a select group of the English watchmakers whose technical achievements gave them a clear advantage over their counterparts on the Continent for most of the eighteenth century.