The Whistlers' Pocket Watch
6th June 2024
A pocket watch belonging to the artist, Rex Whistler, forms part of an exhibition at Salisbury Museum before coming up for auction in the city.
The 18 carat gold half-hunter watch was bequeathed to Whistler by his grandfather, the Reverend Charles Slegg Ward, who had received it as a gift from his parishioners at Wootton St Lawrence, near Basingstoke.
Just eight years old when he inherited the watch, Whistler went on to have a successful career as a society painter and designer – becoming known as one of the era’s ‘Bright Young Things’ and numbering Cecil Beaton, Edith Sitwell and the Mitfords among his contacts. Despite being 35 when the Second World War broke out, Whistler was keen to serve and was commissioned into the Welsh Guards in 1940. He presented their grandfather’s watch to his younger brother, Laurence, before he left. He was killed on 18th July 1944 during Operation Goodwood in Normandy, when the tracks of his tank became entangled in wire and he and his crew tried to free it.
His brother’s death had a major impact on Laurence Whistler, coming in the same year as his wife’s death from blood poisoning. Rex had taught his younger brother much about drawing and design, but Laurence became best known as a glass engraver. His work began on smaller glass vessels but veered towards architectural windows and church commissions as he became better known. His work can be found at Stowe House, the Ashmolean Museum, several Oxford colleges, and Salisbury Cathedral, where a three-sided prism commemorates his much-loved elder brother.
Both men had strong connections to the city of Salisbury. Laurence’s first wife, Jill Furse, was born in Netherhampton House and the couple married in Salisbury Cathedral in 1939. Rex leased the Walton Canonry in The Close from 1938 until his death in 1944, partly as a home for their parents, but with the aim of joining them when the war ended.
The pocket watch has remained with Laurence’s descendants until the present day and comes onto the open market for the first time in almost 120 years. It will be included in the Fine Jewellery sale at Woolley and Wallis on 10th July, carrying a pre-sale estimate of £1,000 – 2,000. Jewellery specialist, Marielle Whiting commented, “This is a delightful watch with connections to two significant artists and brothers. The tragedy of Rex Whistler’s death was almost foreseen in his passing the watch to his younger brother prior to going to war, and it is clear that Laurence never fully recovered from the loss of the man he revered. I would encourage anyone to visit the exhibition at Salisbury Museum, which focuses on Rex’s work and places the watch among previously unseen sketches and other artefacts.”
Rex Whistler: The Artist and His Patrons is on view at Salisbury Museum until 29th September. The pocket watch will transfer to Woolley and Wallis on 5th July and comes up for auction on 10th July.
