276 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 19 10 



to his "trade" as a 

 collector of such 

 things, he was fre- 

 quently afforded an 

 opportunity to pur- 

 chase, on advan- 

 tageous terms, all 

 sorts of antiquities 

 that had been treas- 

 ured, perhaps, for 

 many generations, 

 as heirlooms, with- 

 out the owner's hav- 

 ing any real concep- 

 tion of their value. 

 In this way, on one 

 occasion, h e ac- 

 quired an old enam- 

 eled dial for a mere 

 trifle, having pur- 

 chased it only to 

 please a prospective 

 customer. 



While subse- 

 quently examining 

 it at his hotel, it 

 was observed by 

 another guest, who 

 after inspecting it offered the sum of five marks 



E^'g watcli with alarm in tim-ly eiiirraved case, the frie/e with ornaments in pierced work. 9 — Cold tulip watch, pearl studded 



and enameled pressed; tulip opens and shows watch; 18 Century, 

 dial^represents Christ's resurrection; 16 Century. 



10 — Smallest watch in existence; actual size: 1650. 11 — Cross watch. 



for their efforts. 

 At the same time, 

 he learned to dis- 

 criminate between a 

 watch that was 

 merely old — and 

 for this very reason 

 often next to worth- 

 less — and one that 

 in its form and 

 decoration, bore 

 testimony to the 

 artistic taste and 

 skilled execution of 

 a certain period. 

 By this means and 

 by an expensive 

 process of selection 

 and rejection, he 

 fitted himself for 

 the gathering of his 

 superb collection of 

 antique watches, 

 every one of which 

 had some special 

 merit. The unique 

 character of his col- 

 lection was recog- 



The nized by the highest authorities when a gold medal was 



hotel keeper, who had overheard the conversation, after presented to him at the horological exposition held at 



looking at the dial, offered ten marks for it. This aroused Nuremburg, Bavaria, to celebrate the 400th anniversary 



Mr. Marfels' curiosity, and he asked the contestants what of the construction, by Peter Henlein, of the first portable 



they proposed to do with it. One dodged the question; pocket timepiece, an achievement commemorated by the 



the hotel keeper more frankly stated that he proposed to erection of a monument to the ingenious locksmith in that 



give it to one of his guests, who, as a director in a trade famous old city. 



museum, was interested in such things. This disposition The locksmiths, to whose trade, according to the old 

 of it appealed to Mr. Marfels, and he finally parted with time regulations of the "guilds" — the unions of the Middle 

 the specimen for twenty marks. Although he later ascer- Ages, which if not so tyrannical and unreasonable as the 

 tained that it had no real value, the incident impressed him unions of to-day, were infinitely more influential and con- 

 with the fact that for almost everything there is an admirer ducted with great foresight and intelligence — originally be- 

 to be found, and just this simple incident started him on his longed the business of making and repairing clocks, and 

 career as a collector. From the character of his business, he Peter Henlein, to whom the first pocket timepiece is cred- 

 was naturally more familiar with watches and watch values ited, was a locksmith. They made their watches with iron 

 than with any other productions, so that he was led to devote works, by hand, the case being of round, caddy shape, until 

 his attention to this particular field. He speedily recognized gradually a school of skillful horologists was evolved, 

 the fact that old watches, as merely "old," were often Their products were quite expensive, so much so that the 



masters of the 



hardly worth the 

 metal entering into 

 them, that their 

 merit lay almost en- 

 tirely in their ar- 

 tistic features, and 

 by visiting museums 

 and studying what 

 literature on the 

 subject was avail- 

 able, he sought to 

 familiarize himself 

 with the particular 

 phases of artistic 

 development that 

 had been associated 

 with the decoration 

 of the watch; the 

 names of the artists 

 who had achieved 

 distinction in this 

 line; the character- 

 istics of their work 

 and the subjects 

 they usually selected 



12 — Gold watch prism shaped; Lyon 1564. IJ — Gold watch prism shaped; German coat of arms, 1564. 14 — C;old watch prism 

 shaped; Emperor Charles V, 1564. 15 — Small frold esrg watch, enameled dial; 1600. 16 — Reverse side of small gold egg watch. St. 

 George and Dragon. 17— Gold enameled watch, shell shaped, set with pearls; 1800. 18 — Gold enameled watch, repeater, diamond 

 studded; London, 18 Century. 19 — Gold ring with watch, diamond set; Louis XVI period. 20 — Cross watch, dial engraved with 

 resurrection of Christ; 16 Century. 



goldsmith, engrav- 

 ing and enameling 

 arts, did not con- 

 sider it beneath 

 their dignity to dc: 

 vote their talents to 

 the creation of suit- 

 able cases for these 

 clever little ma- 

 chines. Hence the 

 beautiful specimens 

 that formed the ob- 

 ject of Mr. Mar- 

 fels' solicitude and 

 for which Mr. 

 Morgan was will- 

 ing to pay such a 

 good price. A 

 watch, in those 

 days, was not as 

 now an article gen- 

 erally owned; 

 only rich people 

 possessed watches 



