A quiet assemblage built around time, memory, and the soft language of worn things.

At its centre, an early pocket watch rests, its surface aged and darkened, no longer kept for timekeeping, but for presence. Beside it, a small French fabric-covered book, its delicate floral cloth faded and intact, holding a quieter kind of story.

The composition unfolds in layers. Quilted cotton, worn and gently puckered, sits beneath finer floral fragments and stitched cloth, creating a ground that feels both domestic and deeply personal. A scattering of pale buttons catches the light, small, luminous, almost incidental.

Paper elements introduce another rhythm. A devotional card, Delight thyself also in the Lord, soft with age. A photographic portrait, a family held in stillness, edges worn, surface marked by time. Above, a slender printed card marked Happiness, a fragile note placed like a thought rather than a statement.

This is not a collection of items, but a composed study, each element chosen for tone, proportion, and restraint. It sits somewhere between object and image, something to display, photograph, or quietly dismantle for future work.

Details

• Curated assemblage grouping

• Antique pocket watch, untested, decorative

• French fabric-covered book with floral cloth binding

• Early photographic portrait, sepia tone

• Devotional and printed paper ephemera

• Vintage buttons in soft neutral tones

• Layered quilted and floral textile fragments

Sourced across France and the UK
Early 20th century through mid-century elements

Condition

Timeworn throughout, with visible age and handling.

Marks, fading, creases, and soft wear present across all elements.
The watch is untested and offered as a decorative piece.
Textiles show natural wear and gentle distortion from age.

Nothing here is accidental, the wear is part of the composition.

Use & Styling

• Display as a ready-made still life

• Use as a photographic styling piece

• Source material for collage or textile work

• A study piece for artists working with memory and narrative

• Can be preserved intact or slowly reworked over time

To keep whole, or to take apart slowly, depending on how you work.