Software
Houzz Logo Print
ladyamity

Need Help Identifying Old Clock

18 years ago

Hello Everyone!

I am a regular on the Decorating Board but finding this Antique/Collectible board this morning I thought this would be a better place to ask about this clock.

I've looked and looked on the web since last Saturday for information about this clock but being I don't know anything about clocks I couldn't even come close to finding the 'A' in a square that is printed on the paper where the clock's numbers are.

So, my questions----

Updating our home owner's information last weekend we realized we didn't have any information on this clock that my son bought me years and years ago from a little shop that was going out of business.

The clock wasn't for sale, it was hanging on the shop's wall but my son instantly noticed the leaves on the pendulum and knew I'd love it (Since adult son was a baby I've had a thing for anything 'leaves').

Son had noooo idea about collectibles/antiques but offered the guy $100 for it. Sold!

The clock means so very much to me because of the sentiment.

The paper face of the clock is discolored, looks like little flecks of rust spattered on the face, and the paper face is also now lifting along some of the edges.

Second reason for wanting to know about this clock is to find out about replacing the paper face --- will it diminish the value (if there is any) of this clock?

I want this clock to be passed down, so I don't want to do anything to it that will ruin it's value.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for any help/information you can provide.

Amity

Whatever the age of this clock, it still keeps perfect time with a winding every 8 days.



Here is a link that might be useful: More Pictures of Clock

Comments (14)

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Off the top of my head....without any research...it's a fairly "informal" clock...perhaps was in the kitchen? I am basing that on the coil chime rether than a brass bell and striker.
    The face doesn't appear to be paper to me....more like porcelain...or paint of some sort. Looks like it's a faux grained wood....and it looks like there was something in that inset below that shows the pendulum.
    My guess is about turn of the century. I have no idea who "A" is...but I can bet it's out there on the web somewhere.
    Does it work well? A clock repair shop may know something about it as well.
    Linda C

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    That trademark is for the Ansonia Clock Company(1851-19290) Ansonia, CT until 1879, Brooklyn, NY from 1879-1929).

    Spring wound shelf clocks of many patterns were the principal type of clock produced, although an occasional ogee weight driven with the Ansonia label has been reported. Regulator wall clocks were also made. The cases were all of wood, with mahogany, rosewood or other veneer. About 1870 the name Ansonia Brass & Battery Co. was used on some wood and iron cased marine 8 day and 30 hour clocks.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    company dates(1851-1929)

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    duluthinbloomz4 is correctm it's an Ansonia. It is NOT a kitchen clock, however. It's a schoolhouse clock. Do not attempt to clean or refinish it, in any way. Clocks retain more of their value if they are left untouched. It's wonderful that it is still running perfectly, and it looks to be in great shape! Enjoy it! If you need to transport it, remove the pendulum, (it will lift off where it hangs), and gently tie down the wire it hangs from. Then, carefully place wadded non-acid paper inside the case, packing it firmly, but gently. (My uncle collected clocks, and my dad repaired them! I shipped clocks overseas and back in this manner, and never lost a one!)

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    In my area, in that condition, & assuming it is working...you could buy a similar clock for around $300 at retail. The case appears to have some damage which could be restored w/o ruining the clock's value. In fact, if fully restored...it would fetch about double the above amount. The problem comes in with the cost of restoration...

    The link below is to Delaney Antique Clocks. We have made several purchases from them & I can highly recommend both their knowledge & work. I'm not suggesting you have Delaney do any restoration...but if you send them pictures they will tell you exactly what you have.

    My FIL passed away a few months back & he had a tall case clock. We were unsure of value & didn't know if we should pay the rather large cost to ship the clock back to CT. John Delaney looked at the pictures I sent, provided me with info on the maker, age, & an estimate of value. He saved us a couple grand.

    What a wonderful family heirloom you have. If you're not already doing so, I would like to suggest you take the clock to a reputable repairman every five years for servicing...sorta like a "tune-up". We have quite a few antique clocks & our repairman comes to our home for these tune-ups & I 'think' that service is fairly common. It's not the greatest thing to move the clocks around...they do best undisturbed.

    /tricia

    Here is a link that might be useful: Delaney Antique Clocks

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Oops, sorry...

    Meant to add that if you email me privately, I'll give you a referral to Dave Delaney.

    /t

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Hi again!

    LindaC,
    I don't know where the clock was previously. I just know that my son saw it hanging on a wall, not for sale, of a shop that was going out of business and while he was paying for his purchase at the register, looked up and the leaves of the pendulum is what caught his eye. That's when he offered to buy it.
    Had it been me that was offering to purchase the clock I would have asked the owner of the shop if he had any history of the clock.
    Doesn't matter, the sentiment that son thought of me when he saw the leaves is priceless, will be always.
    Because of that, I wanted to make sure I kept as good care of this clock as possible so that it could be passed down.

    The face is paper. Really brittle. When I opened the glass front last weekend to try and get closer to the 'A' I could see along the edges of the paper where it's lifting from the 10 to the 12 and from the 3 to the 5. Other areas of the paper face almost looks like a sticker on a product that has an air bubble under it.

    "something in that inset below that shows the pendulem" -- not sure what area you are speaking of?

    Yes, it works wonderfully! I wind it every 8 days, both keyholes and it keeps right on ticking.
    Thank you so much!

    DuluthInBloomz4,

    Thank you. Thank you.
    At least now I have some direction.
    I would do a search for 'A Trademark' and kept coming up with tons of pages that explain what a trade mark is.
    I must have scrolled through a zillion photos over the last week hoping to come across my clock.
    Thanks to you, now I have the name of the actual company/maker.

    DaesaFlGatorFan,

    Schoolhouse clock ----Never thought of schoolhouse!
    All this time I was searching, besides trying to find information on the 'A' Trademark, I'd type in 'Old Wall Clock'. No wonder I always got a bazilion pages to search. Had I known, I would have narrowed the search down to 'Schoolhouse Clock'.
    How interesting for you to have had clock lovers in your family!
    This past week while finishing up Holiday shopping I've found myself looking more and more at old clocks while going through little shops in the village. Their pendulums, the clock's shape and most interesting to me is their sound.
    I hope this one clock of mine hasn't started a whole new addiction for me. Although I could think of worse things I could collect. lol
    Unless something happens that I don't know about, this clock won't be moving.
    It went up the day I received it and hasn't moved all these years.
    In fact, when I painted my bricks on the fireplace, I painted around the clock for fear of disturbing it. lololol
    But your packing information is excellent information for me to know and I've just finished printing it out.

    My Dad, 82, still has the clock that was hung in his parents' kitchen when he was a little boy.
    That clock is one of my fondest memories of my Grandmother's loving kitchen and the breakfasts she would cook for me, just me, anything I wanted. She spoiled me rotten! lol
    It's the ugliest thing you ever saw with layers and layers of paint but that darn thing is still ticking away and keeps great time!
    I have no idea of it's actual age nor do I know anything about it/maker but the ticking and the sound of the bell was very comforting to me as a little girl.
    Thank you so very much!

    Triciae,
    Yes, lots of damage.
    I never realized how much. But it's been hung in the same place for years and I never really 'inspected' the clock before it was hung.
    Just last Saturday, when I got up there really close to try to find information on the clock, is when I noticed all the nicks in the wood/trim and the lifting paper face.
    To me, all the little defects adds to it's charm, to it's history, to it's story, so I hadn't thought anything about any of the damage other than the paper face.
    I don't want the face to get any worse, lift off more than it has.
    Thank goodness I knew enough not to squeeze hot glue down there to reattach the face! LOL
    Thank you for telling of your FIL's clock. The link you gave and your email --- Thank youuuu!

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Here that style of clock is referred to as a "railway station clock".
    Anyone notice how the Roman numeral for "4", which should be "IV", is always "IIII" on a clock? I was told the story behind that once (something about a king who insistd it was "IIII", and who argues with a king ;-) ?) but I don't remember it totally.

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I don't believe the face is paper but rather enamel over metal. Yes it does become brittle and tend to separate from the metal.
    In all the clocks of that style I have ever seen, the coil chime didn't show....and the pendulum looked like it was more a part of the parts meant to show.
    Do a google search for Schoolhouse clocks and see what I mean.
    Linda C

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    We have a tall case clock that was built by the helpmeet's grandfather in the late '20s. He was a master cabinetmaker and German. The works are German, as is the signature 1/2 "bonnet" that caps the beauty in the corner of our living area. He made a tall clock for each of his children. Each is different in style, but the bonnets are ALL "German".

    It's been in our home for nearly 17 yrs., an unselfish gift from my BIL whose ceiling was too low to really show the piece to its best advantage; a lovely and generous gesture I'll treasure until I die. The chimes "quit" in his home and never worked in our's. I finally (July of this year) contacted a local clock expert and had him clean, oil, adjust the piece. He had the works in his shop for 5 months; his assessment was that in its 80+yrs. it had never been cleaned/lubricated.

    Here's what my $250 taught me: mechanical clocks should be serviced every 5 yrs./so. This is mostly to ensure good lubrication of the mechanical works, and the 5 yr. time period minimizes time spent cleaning. It also taught me that the clock we have is of very nice quality with respect to the works and the chimes. The provenance only added to the value. The soundbox was reglued in the past week and we reinstalled it today. The chimes sound every quarter hour and then there is the hourly chime. We have to adjust the hammers to minimize the reverb. on the quarterly chimes, but it's GREAT to not only see but HEAR such a pretty piece proclaim the time. When the electricity is cut during a storm there is no need to "reset" a mechanical clock. :)

    Mechanical clocks are real treasures. They DO require maintenance and a willingness to LEARN the basics of the mechanics. I love having love the steady, rhythmic, "tick tock" in the background. When the works were "away" we STILL looked to the vacant face for the time...

    Clocks rock! (next to go to the "spa" is the lovely, marble, "mantel" clock).

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    LindaC, I'm not trying to be mean, but please educate yourself before posting on every subject. I can take photos of any clock my uncle has, or I have, for that matter, and the gong, (what you refer to as the 'coil'), will show in a great many. I'm including links below for your viewing pleasure. Clock movements themselves can take up quite a bit of space in the case, and if the clock chimes, or strikes, the striker will hang down, with the gong visible. This often was done to facilitate a purer and louder sound when the hour was struck. Depending on the mechanism design, there is no space for a striker to swing, unseen, behind the face. Therefore, the gong can and will be exposed. That does NOT denote that the clock is an "informal" one, it merely denotes that the clock works themselves took up a great deal of space. And, a lot of dials were paper over metal. Moisture will cause the paper to lift, and also to show hints of rust, due to the metal underneath.

    Amity, to be precise, your clock is an octagon drop schoolhouse clock. Good luck finding out more!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Clocks

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Sorry you think I am not "educated" on the subject, but the clocks you pictured were none of them of the school house style. I know that the enamel face can often be mistaken for paper, because it does peel from the backing. However I have never seen nor heard of a clock of that age with a paper face. A lot of years ago, I did buy a schoolhouse clock with a paper face, but the face was done in Arabic numerals over the old enamel Roman numerals. It had been a kindergarten clock. I removed the old paper and found a pristine enamel face beneath.
    The coil "chime" is less formal....you may use another term, than the striking gong type of clock, some of which may play Westminister chimes and others simply strike the hour and half or quarter hour.
    In a clock with a glass front, naturally more of the business of the clock can be seen.
    While it doesn't diminish the charm and the sentiment of the clock, I believe that the glass in the area that shows the pendulum has been replaced and that originally the coil chime and the top shaft of the pendulum were hidden by either painting on the glass...or a wood panel.
    I can't imagine Ansonia clock works putting paper on the clock face with their logo on it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Just one example

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I know a schoolhouse clock is informal, however, I was pointing out that many a "formal" clock does have the gong showing. (My terminology comes from reading my dad's clock repair books, btw, and I readily admit to not recalling all terms in this area.) It matters not if the clock played Westminister chimes, Whittington, St. Michael, or even the first eight notes of Beethoven's "Joyful We Adore Thee". If the design had the gong showing, it showed, no matter the style of clock! And, yes. Ansonia, as well as other clock makers, did use paper faces. I refer you to the link below, which lists an Ansonia PAPER clock face. As in ANY sort of mass produced item, there are differences in how ornate/elaborate the clock/whathaveyou is. Many of them did have gold or acid etching on the lower glass, but a great many of them did not. Ergo, the OP's glass could very well be original. Basically, if a pendulum was ornate, it was meant to be seen. Plain Jane pendulums were often obscured by etching. The exception to this rule would be the Victorian parlor clocks, which were the epitome of overly ornateness. See the earlier link I gave for examples.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Ansonia Dial Pan, Item # 8713

  • 18 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I'll send a copy of this to my friend in the clock business. He knows lots of stuff, goes to shows and has done work on my clock. Maybe he can help you. I LOVE old clocks, but don't know a lot about them---only what I like. But DO NOT replace the face---it will diminish the value....
    Dennie

Sponsored
Bella Casa LLC
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars17 Reviews
The Leading Interior Design Studio in Franklin County
More Discussions