Watchstand in the form of a house; it is made of three flat panels which slot together with inlaid banding. There is a circular aperture for the watch. The door and windows are glazed and cover watercolour drawings. There is a soldier in the doorway, a harlequin and juggler in the window above and flowers and window panes in the other windows. Bone columns flank the door with female figures above (partly missing).
It was said to have been made by a 'Marine Prisoner' in France during the Peninsular War, but is very similar to a sailor-made Greenwich Hospital watchstand sold at Sotheby's on 3 May 1995. The item should stand on a base (now missing).