Featured Odd faux carriage clock perfume bottle vinaigrette filligree case thingy

Here's something that I photographed in 2003 and asked about on the eBay boards back then. It never did belong to me. It’s a little oddity a friend was looking for information on. The owner thought it was probably French (Quebec background on the family). It came into the family probably around 1900. At first glace, it looks like a small carriage clock, about 2 ¼” high with a base about 1 ½” square, each side and the top decorated with a pattern in filigree… but you know it’s not going to turn out that way. The “clock” is a false face, and the body opens on all sides. The filigree isn’t true filigree. The sides are pierced, but appear to be die cast. The piece has a gold tone, but I think it is some kind of plating, probably over copper.

When the sides are folded down, 2 opposing faces are fitted with little leaf shaped thingies (acanthus? anthemion?) that fold up. Behind the clock is a beautiful little bottle held in a bracket that also folds up, and the back is faced by a small beveled mirror surrounded by a rope-twist frame. The base is occupied by a circular well covered with a pierced grate.

The bottle is indeed beautiful. It is circular, about 1 ¼” across and just over ¼” thick. The neck on it is about ¼” high and still has its original stopper. Both main faces are ground and polished. The bottle sits in a metal bracket hinged to one face of the box. It is held in place by a collar secured to the bracket with a pin topped by a small bead of opalescent glass. I did not try to remove the pin for fear of doing more harm than good.

Those fold-up thingies on either side are peculiar. Each is backed with a fan shaped array of tubes that originally held pins (about 1” long) like that holding the bottle in place. Only two of these pins remain, and again I did not try to budge them. Originally there would have been seven pins on each side.

I think these pins were originally over-all gold, the color covering the beaded end having flaked away.

The center well is an inch across and ¼” deep. It strikes me as being very much like a vinaigrette. If it is, the grill would have lifted off and there would have been a small sponge in the well. Perfume (from the bottle?) would have been dropped on the sponge. With its pierced sides, the closed box would have given off a fragrance even when closed. There is no sponge now, and the lid did not easily budge. (I did not try to force it.)

So what would this thing have been used for? The owner thinks it is primarily a perfume bottle, but I am unconvinced. It might serve as a compact, but if you lay it out with the sides laid flat, the back mirror erect, and the fold-up thingies folded up, it doesn’t really work. You don’t have sufficient access to the (relatively small) mirror.

And what would all those pins have been used for?

The way every thing folds up, there would have been room in the center to hold some object (standing on that center well). If there was a piece that stood in the center, the mirror might have been to show the back side of it. Here’s an out-there conjecture: Suppose there was a little religious figure that stood in the center. Suppose all those pins would be inserted around the perimeter of that figure to form a halo. But then why would the piece be disguised as a clock?

Anybody have any ideas?

 

Well, I found another one. I do not know if what they say is correct or not.

https://www.rubylane.com/item/460327-490/RAREx21-19th-Century-Silver-Filigree-Clock

 

It's very interesting that you found another, but I can't see this as a sewing etui. A sewing etui would be better equipped with a variety of implements, not just a few pins, and would have no need of the fragrance element, which looms large in this. Still... it's something to have found another.

 

That's why I said I didn't know if they were correct.

I see no need for perfume to be in with a sewing kit.

The other thing that bothers me. When it is all set up, the perfume bottle blocks the mirror.

The pins, are they the right length for hat pins? Or are they too short?
Is there anyplace to hold hair brushes?
Did I miss the overall size of this?

 

Yeah, this is small - the same size as the Rubylane one - about 2 ¼” high with a base about 1 ½” square. The pins are only about 1" long.

 

Just throwing this out there , but I wonder if this is in fact a mini altar ( bottle for holy water, wafers in the compartment ) and they had to practice in secret , possibly during the French reformation period ?

 

Now that I realize how small it is - I have searched pomander, vinaigrette, and smelling salts with no success.

The clock is interesting. Does it come out of the box from the front? Is it purely decoration?
If purely decorative, that makes me wonder if this is a 1960s piece of jewelry.

Sorry I wasn't more help.

 

Didn't see your post. Guess I was sitting on the page too long and didn't refresh.

 

The clock is purely decorative. It backs the mirror. Definitely older. The owner said in the family circa 1900, and having handled it, I believe her, but not so old as the reformation.

 

I'm not trying to be argumentative, just thinking out loud so to speak.
And I'm certainly not saying this isn't as old as you and your friend think.

Just throwing thoughts out.
What's odd is that in 1900 time period, everything had a function.
That's why the clock to me should work. The hands appear to be moveable.
I also see that there is a hinge on the front under the clock. If the top were to be unpinned, I wonder if that side would fold down, leaving the mirror up, to expose the back of the clock.

Also I see Roman numerals(last picture), which might indicate some sort of repair.

 

WOW!
I'm mesmerized by it................

 

Maybe it was a "Judith Lieber" type purse of the Victorian era. If the clock opens from the front, that could have stored a small powder cake and puff. Does the round piece in the section in front of the mirror open? That also looks like it could store a powder puff and cake or possibly housed a sponge to soak with the perfume as a vinaigrette. The decoration on that round piece looks like some of the compact purses of that era The pin things could just be a beautiful way to store something used as an emergency necessity. Whatever it is, it sure is a beautiful piece.

 

The side with the clock face will fold flat, but the mirror does not remain standing. You can see how it folds in the link clutteredcloset provided (that example apparently has plain beveled glass, rather than a mirror). I think the only function of the clock face was to carry over the illusion of a carriage clock. I don't remember if the hands were moveable or not, or if there was access to move them (I think not). If they were... increased realism?... an aide memoire for use?... luck of the draw?

I have no idea what those engraved lines might mean.

I wasn't able to remove the grill from the center well, but I wasn't about to try and force it. Looking at the picture now, I see what look like 4 raised rosettes and I wonder if they might be threaded pins holding the grill in place.

 

Again I'm looking at the pictures and think I might be wrong about the position of the clock. From the side view, it looks like the clock fronts the perfume bottle. This is supported by the back view, which shows blind piercing, which would be consistent with the mirror backing that surface.

 

The one on RubyLane also had a Roman Numeral faced clock, although it appeared backwards or turned......how tiny it is, is what's befuddling to me!!!! Like it was meant to be used in secrecy!! And hoping it's O.K., but I put the two together, just for comparison.....they're pretty identical......clock face orientation, except for the needles (you have fewer), @moreotherstuff yours is more complete, and the handles are different.....RL has a Whammy of a price on hers though!!!!!! Don't know if this helps any.....



UMMMMM.....sorry, clock orientation would be ME!!! I flipped the RL picture so it would be more in line with More's picture......boo-boo!!!

 

More, so you know how things just bug you until you have an answer. This is one of those things.
I went to bed last night thinking about it.

What if this is a needle and thimble case. Would explain the pins, which may have been replaced.
I did find two needle cases that had perfume bottles.

As one of the articles mention, train travel was just beginning in the Victorian era, maybe the perfumer(pomander) was meant to be used in travel. Still having a problem with the unworkable clock.

http://yarwood-antiques.com/early-nineteenth-century-thimble-perfume-bottle-c-1810-.html

scroll down a little
http://www.steppeshillfarmantiques.com/p/newsletters/june2015

 

Well, bathing wasn't so common back then, ergo the need for the scent bottle????

 

Ah man.............
That idea just stinks.

 

Interesting comparison photo. They are close enough that I could accept that they came from the same manufacturer.

I get the impression that the fragrance was the primary function.

The way every thing folds up, there would have been room in the center to hold some object (standing on that center well). If there was a piece that stood in the center, the mirror might have been to show the back side of it. Or maybe the space was left open to maximize distribution of scent.

The thimbles with scent bottles are very interesting as is the notion of combining scent bottles with object of unrelated function.