Seeing the art work that Sham posted last week made me wonder about a Hampden that I have. The case has what I think is a stork and a snake in it's beak. Does anyone know what this is suppose to represent? I'll post a pic tonight. In the mean time I saw this on the net.

The stork is not usually in the Physiologus. The Epiphanius version says the stork is the most chaste bird; neither the male nor the female entices the other to have sex, or tries to force the other. Also the young diligently feed and care for their parents when they are old; this second attribute is derived from Pliny the Elder. The interpretation says we should likewise avoid evil, do good, honor our father and our mother, and not commit adultery.

The storks in the van der Borcht copperplate engraving below are presumably parent and child. The lack of clear identification of which is parent and which is child or of which bird is feeding the other may be deliberate, to show that the parent first cares for the child and the child later reciprocates by feeding the aged parent.

To heck with storks. Here is a Gryphon (half lion/half eagle) from a Tiffany hunter cased watch.

Ethan
Great carving. what does the rest of the case look like

Bob

Alas, just one Gryphon in a sea of swirls.

Other side

Third time is a charm, I hope. I took the pic early this morning and forgot to resize, DA
I'll try to post the rest of the watch tonight. Thanks for any information on what this may indicate.

Bob,

The stork is fairly common in European heraldry, showing up in Coat-of-Arms, crests and other heraldic emblems. It's supposed to represent faithfulness and vigilance. Since storks feed on snakes, they have a reputation for keeping snakes away from the farmhouse, and this is extrapolated to a representation of protection from evil. This also plays into the legend about storks bringing good luck.

I would bet it's a family crest, or maybe a personal message of loyalty and devotion. Remember, there were many thousands of first-generation European immigrants (who would have recognized the symbolism) in the US at the time these watches were in daily use.

Regards,

Cary

Cary,

It begins to make sense. This is along the same lines as the internet search. Thanks!

Bob,
Beautiful case.
I wish you had offered me this one in exchange for the Adam Burdess fusee...

Irwin

Good to hear from you my friend!

As a matter of fact I did not have this one until last week. It was an Ebay buy. The case did not look like this when recieved. I took a chance on the "not working" description. I cleaned and oiled the movement and it came out wonderful! Watch is keeping great time and the hunter case is really nice.

I was running a handful of searches for "engraved birds" or "bird engravings" looking to see if there might be some history on what I think are Swallow or Martins on many of the early pocket watch cases.

They are generally part of a farm house scene or accompanied by floral patterns...

Bob and Ethan have some great examples with cultural significance for the period.

What did the Swift or Swallow symbolize?

The Swallow symbolizes a happy home. Swallows are symbols of happiness and prosperity according to my German grandmother. Pigeons on the other hand symbolize a dirty car and an expenditure for shotgun shells.