Clocks

[Frederick14Va]

Clocks are another common item found in most Victorian era homes. Many became charished family heirlooms, passed down through generations.
Yes yet another collection vice..

In this edition will be a French Gold Figural Clock.
Not much else screams 19th C. aristocratic dripping wealth, than being able to obtain and display one of these in your not so humble abode. These high quality French figural clocks were the craze of the social elite's during the 1830-1870's. Even to proudly have ones image taken with one sitting on a table nearby. Cast in bronze and gold gilded, the level of detail in the artwork is incredible. This one's figural theme is that of a painter-artist, and would date to the early-mid 1850's, possibly earlier.

 

[Eleanor Rose]

Thanks for starting this thread @Frederick14Va ! Clocks were indeed cherished by our Victorian friends.

 

[Frederick14Va]

Thanks for starting this thread @Frederick14Va ! Clocks were indeed cherished by our Victorian friends.

No problem at all.. have tons of clocks that I repair and restore... keep a few and resell, pass along the rest. Bring a new life and worth to these old worn relics of the past to get a new lease and value to continue forward into another era.. The one above is quite rare to encounter in my region. It is also so rare, gaudy and over-the-top that makes it even more interesting.

Frequently ponder how many people in the past gently wound them up... or sat and listened to their rhythmic cadence as time crept by, over the course of several generations...

 

[donna]

I love clocks. Have a few of them around our house.

I enjoyed this one very much.

 

[lelliott19]

@Frederick14Va can you tell me anything about this old clock? I inherited it from my parents. They enjoyed picking up old clocks at flea markets and swap meets. I chose this one because it has Westminster chimes - on the hour, half hour, and quarter hour.

 

[Frederick14Va]

@lelliott19. If you go into the backside and look close near the bottom of the movement frame plate facing you, it should have a makers name, and some numbers, which will allow us to narrow it all down much more accurately.. Also any markings on the inside of the rear door?

 

[Frederick14Va]

Have had a bad habit of not taking before-after images of the various items I work on. Occasionally while I have the camera out I will toss together some like items while Im at it.

Heres just a small sampling of the clocks... I have about ten times or more this number currently on hand, or under restoration/repair... I stopped counting them on purpose awhile back...lol.. Majority range from 1830-1940's. These shown are as recieved, before any work was done on them. After work is completed I will set them up and let them run for about a week or more to ensure function and fine tune or tweak the timing if needed. It was not uncommon that at the top of the hour the dog would run and hide... the windows would rattle due to a dozen or more clocks sounding off all at once.... Also noted there is always a vintage coverlet within reach to use as a background cover...

 

[Boonslick]

Frederick14Va

Who is the maker of your OG clock at the bottom of picture 2? I believe that I have the same clock.

 

[donna]

What wonderful clocks. I have three anniversary clocks from different time periods. Have a Seth Thomas mantel clock which was my Granny's. It was given to her by an old family friend back in 1930s. I really don't know how old it is, as he had it for years.

 

[Frederick14Va]

Frederick14Va

Who is the maker of your OG clock at the bottom of picture 2? I believe that I have the same clock.

Will have to find and dig that one back out to see, have about 8 Ogee's at present time. One sitting on the bench beside me is near identical other than a slightly different floral pattern on the face... This one is a Jerome. For whatever reason seems half the time the weights are missing from them... argh !...

 

[Frederick14Va]

What wonderful clocks. I have three anniversary clocks from different time periods. Have a Seth Thomas mantel clock which was my Granny's. It was given to her by an old family friend back in 1930s. I really don't know how old it is, as he had it for years.

The ones I quickly learned to steer away from are Cuckoo clocks, and anniversary clocks, both are a bear to work on... Have several Anniv. clocks, mostly older german made ones from the 1920-30's... when they work they work well... but accurately tuning in the torsion spring wire can be a pain I discovered.

 

[Kirk Womack]

The ones I quickly learned to steer away from are Cuckoo clocks, and anniversary clocks, both are a bear to work on... Have several Anniv. clocks, mostly older german made ones from the 1920-30's... when they work they work well... but accurately tuning in the torsion spring wire can be a pain I discovered.

I heartily agree, cuckoo clocks are a pain in the you know what. For some reason, anniversary clocks have never given me much trouble.

 

[James N.]

There's already a similar thread on the subject in The Ladies Tea Forum: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/period-clocks.91127/ but I seriously could use your assistance with my two favorites I posted there because I've managed to BREAK both of them! The pillar-and-scroll wooden works shed at least one of its teeth from a gear and now only runs for a minute or less when the gear returns to the missing tooth and stops again. I managed to break both springs in the steeple clock through overwinding! First the chime broke, and that wasn't TOO bad; but now the time has also snapped loudly and does nothing. I only know of a single clocksmith in my area and he's incapable of doing anything for the pillar-and-scroll and last time he merely cleaned, oiled, and straightened out the steeple's mechanisms seriously overcharged me!

 

[Kirk Womack]

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There's already a similar thread on the subject in The Ladies Tea Forum: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/period-clocks.91127/ but I seriously could use your assistance with my two favorites I posted there because I've managed to BREAK both of them! The pillar-and-scroll wooden works shed at least one of its teeth from a gear and now only runs for a minute or less when the gear returns to the missing tooth and stops again. I managed to break both springs in the steeple clock through overwinding! First the chime broke, and that wasn't TOO bad; but now the time has also snapped loudly and does nothing. I only know of a single clocksmith in my area and he's incapable of doing anything for the pillar-and-scroll and last time he merely cleaned, oiled, and straightened out the steeple's mechanisms seriously overcharged me!

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Shoot, I wish I was closer to you. I could fix both problems fairly simply. The mainsprings are available from Timesavers. The tooth replacement involves carefully cutting a dovetail in the rim of the wheel, and cutting a new tooth to match perfectly. I've done it a number of times in the past with excellent results. And don't feel too bad about the mainsprings, they were probably ready to break anyway.

 

[Boonslick]

Shown is my Empire Marsh-Gilbert tall mantle clock. I acquired this, my first major antique, in 1966, at age 18 at a price of $100.00.