Bernard Shaw's fob watch
Category
Horology
Date
circa 1890
Materials
Gunmetal, glass
Measurements
2.0 ins (dia)0.625 ins (thickness)
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Shaw's Corner, Hertfordshire
NT 1274898
Summary
A Swiss made fob watch given to Bernard Shaw by Colonel Hugh Cholmondeley (husband to Charlotte’s sister Mary or ‘Sissy’ as she was called), in 1905. Reputedly Shaw’s favourite watch, he wrote about it to fellow Fabian Beatrice Webb: ‘The Colonel has presented me with a watch which tells the date and the phase of the moon.’ (Shaw to Beatrice Webb, 5 October 1905, in Michalos and Poff, eds., Bernard Shaw and the Webbs (University of Toronto Press, 2002, pp.79-80). Shaw would attach it to his waistcoat via a gold watch chain. The watch by Richard Bonner Thomas of Portmadoc (active 1868-1895), has a white enamelled dial at the front with black Roman numerals and hands. The centre is pierced, with gilt moon and stars on the black disc behind to show the phases of the moon. Concentric dials are at the back of the watch revealing the days of the month and the days of the week, with a small window indicating the month. The fob watch was among 32 items of ‘Shaviana’ returned to Shaw’s Corner in 1961 by the Public Trustee. Personal artefacts belonging to Shaw, including rare books, fountain pens, spectacles, and membership cards had been removed from the house and put into storage by the Public Trustee soon after Shaw’s death. The rediscovery of the items was reported in the press at the time with the heading ‘Shaw’s Treasure-chest’. (‘Shaw’s Treasure-chest’, The Evening News and Star, 16 June 1962).
Provenance
Gift to Bernard Shaw by Colonel Hugh Cholmondeley (husband to Charlotte Shaw's sister Mary). The Shaw Collection. The house and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust by George Bernard Shaw in 1950, together with Shaw's photographic archive. The fob watch was among 32 items of ‘Shaviana’ returned to Shaw’s Corner in 1961 by the Public Trustee.
Marks and inscriptions
In black on front dial above piercing "R. BONNER THOMAS/4 BANK PLACE/PORTMADOC"