Pocket Watches · Pocket watches
Pocket watches by Unidentified, England, 1850
- Maker / attribution
- Unidentified (Manufactured by); George Thompson, English, 1804 - 1878 (Commissioned by); The Liberator, American, 1831 - 1865 (Subject of); George Thompson Garrison, American, 1836 - 1904 (Owned by); William Lloyd Garrison, American, 1805 - 1879 (Owned by)
- Date
- 1850
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom, Europe; Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America
- Object type
- Pocket watches
- Materials / technique
- gold, metal, glass, paint
- Dimensions
- gold, metal, glass, paint; H x W x D: 2 11/16 × 1 7/8 × 9/16 in. (6.8 × 4.8 × 1.4 cm)
- Holding institution
- National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
- Accession / object no.
- 2014.115.6.1
- Credit line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Garrison Family in memory of George Thompson Garrison
- Catalogue title (original)
- Pocketwatch inscribed to William Lloyd Garrison from George Thompson
Record summary
Held and catalogued by National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (object number 2014.115.6.1), this is a pocket watche by Unidentified, made in London, England, United Kingdom, Europe; Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America, dated 1850. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: gold, metal, glass, paint. Recorded dimensions: gold, metal, glass, paint; H x W x D: 2 11/16 × 1 7/8 × 9/16 in. (6.8 × 4.8 × 1.4 cm). The record is illustrated with 4 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Description
An inscribed gold pocket watch presented to William Lloyd Garrison. The watch has a half hunter case, with spring hinged glass cover over the dial and a hinged gold lid over the back, protecting the inscription and winding square. The dial is painted white with roman numerals and fleur de lis shaped watch hands. There is a smaller 60-second dial partly obscuring the "VI" of the larger dial. The two hinged covers open via a button on the crown and bow, positioned above the "XII" of the dial. The engraved inscription on the back of the watch is decorative and reads [Presented by / GEORGE THOMPSON, M.P. / on behalf of him / self and others / to / WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, / intrepid and uncompromising / Friend of the Slave: / in commemoration of the / TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF / THE LIBERATOR / Boston / January 1st, 1851] in several text sizes and fonts. Production and identification marks are stamped and scratched on the inside of the back cover.
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Machine production with interchangeable parts, pioneered by Waltham (1850s) and adopted by Elgin, Longines, Omega and others, made reliable lever watches widely affordable. Keyless winding became standard, railroad watch standards were introduced (1890s), and Swiss and American industries competed globally.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
Atlas type guide
Pocket watches
The pocket watch was the dominant personal timekeeper from the late seventeenth century until the First World War. Its development tracks the history of the escapement: verge watches with fusees until the late eighteenth century; Thomas Mudge's lever escapement (c. 1755) and the cylinder escapement popularised by George Graham and later by Swiss makers; and the Swiss and English lever watches of the nineteenth century. Lépine's bar-bridge calibre and keyless winding made watches thinner and easier to use.
Industrialisation transformed the trade: American factories such as Waltham (from 1850) and Elgin produced interchangeable parts by machine, and Swiss makers responded with their own mechanisation after the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition. By 1900 a reliable watch was affordable to millions; the finest makers continued to produce complications and precision watches.
What to look for
- The escapement: verge (crown wheel), cylinder, duplex, English or Swiss lever.
- Key winding (a square arbor in dial or back) or keyless crown winding.
- Signatures and serial numbers on the movement, dial and inside case back.
- Hallmarks, case maker's marks and gold or silver standards stamped in the case.
- Dial material: enamel, silver, gold, later printed metal.
Dating clues
- Verge watches dominate before c. 1800; cylinder watches c. 1770–1900; lever watches after c. 1820.
- Keyless winding: increasingly common after c. 1860.
- Manufacturer serial number lists exist for Waltham, Elgin, Longines, Omega, Patek Philippe and others.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Verge escapementDetached lever escapementFuseeIdentification Centre
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