Monday, December 30, 2013

Brewster & Ingrahams Beehive Clock

Here is a gift from a wonderful internet friend of mine.



This is a beautiful 8 day brass-spring beehive clock made by Brewster & Ingrahams. The clock retains the original finish, and everything else on it apart from the tablet is original.

Sadly, the strike spring has shattered (possibly during transport), and these are irreplaceable.

I was told that this clock is rather rare because B&I only made 8 day brass-spring clocks for about 4 years (1837-1843).





I am excited to get this clock cleaned and running, but I will need to find out what the equivalent steel spring replacement should be, and order one, before I do that. In the meantime the clock sits just to my right in the computer room. I have found a Terry key that fits the original door "lock" (really just a latch) perfectly, and added a tassel to it.

3 comments:

  1. I'm a huge fan of these early beehive clocks. Were you able to find correct replacements for the springs and get it running?

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    1. Not yet. I need to find the math formula to figure out the springs, which I'm fairly sure will also include needing to do a wheel count. It's not super high on my list of things to do at the moment. I have a lot of clocks in far worse shape that I'd like to fix up first.

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  2. I love the painted Beehive on the glass! Scrolling through this blog makes me wish I had someone near to restore and repair my old mantle and beehive clocks.

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