Pocket Watch (Anniversary Tin) 1850 - 1900

This pocket watch made of tin stands as a poignant, anonymous artifact. Its creation speaks to the personal traditions surrounding marriage, and the ways that anniversaries mark time and commitment in relationships. Crafted from tin, a traditional tenth-anniversary gift, it hints at the intimate world of sentimental exchange. Without a known maker, the object invites speculation—was it crafted by one partner for another, a testament to their shared history, or a commercial object purchased to mark the occasion? It also evokes questions of gender and labor. Did the maker step outside of traditional roles to produce this? The watch's stillness is heavy with the weight of unspoken stories and the quiet endurance of domestic life. It offers no grand narrative, yet in its simple form, this pocket watch encapsulates the intimate, often unacknowledged, labor of love and remembrance.