Updates on the "Mystery" Wooden Works Clock Case

This is a follow-up post which serves to present additional research done over the past year or so on the orphaned "mystery" wooden works clock case I purchased a while back. The clock in question, as well as some initial research can be seen in this post:

http://jcclocks.blogspot.ca/2014/12/a-rare-find.html

I plan to restore this old clock case, but without a matching example to copy, it becomes difficult guesswork. The following 10 clocks bear some similarities to the orphaned case, and are worth discussing for various reasons.

This first clock is a beautiful piece by Chauncey Jerome & Co., marked Richmond VA. The overall style is much fancier than my mystery case, but the door has 3 divisions (which is generally rare/unusual). The door lock is not a match.



This second clock is a very interesting and unusual clock by Case, Gilbert & Co., Winchester CT. It has a very seldom used top splat pattern, which may or may not be original to this clock, and it features a plain flat front (no columns). The similarities seem to end there, however. This clock is much taller than mine, it doesn't have a 3 piece door, and there are additional lips and square mouldings to the case. As with the previous clock, the use of a door lock is inconsistent.



Here is another oddball. This one by Charles Stratton, and features flat fronts with bird's eye maple veneer. The size seems about right, but the interior dividers (which hold the movement in place) don't span the full height. The top is also missing, which doesn't help much with my clock. It's unclear if the door is held shut by a latch or a lock.



Rob M just posted this unusual Eli Terry Jr. & Co. clock the other day, and it caught my eye. It has a very different top, and no 3pc divided door, but it does have a plain flat front, and it uses a similar door catch.



This one is absolutely beautiful, but the only similarity is the 3pc door. Marshall & Adams, Seneca Falls, NY.



Here is another oddball, and again, only very vaguely related to the mystery clock. This is a rather rare Daniel Pratt clock. It has his often-used triangular columns, but a 2 door design with mahogany in the centre. The overall effect from a distance is similar, but the overall construction and details are very different. Sadly the top is an incorrect restoration, but it's still an interesting piece. I believe this is an 8 day clock, but I'm not 100% sure.



Here we find another 3pc divided door on a Thomas Moses, Auburn NY clock. This clock is unusual for its flat stenciled columns as well as for the divided door. I am generally not a big fan of the plain hump splats, but this one is correct/original.



Here we have a very sad looking clock that has seen better days. It has been very poorly refinished, and the top has been badly restored with a ridiculous looking splat and finial combo. It is unclear if all the front veneers have been ripped off. It is by J.J. Beals, NY. (Boardman & Wells), and it has a plain flat front.



Another beautiful example with a 3pc door. Williams Orton & Preston & Co. Farmington.



Lastly, another ornate clock with a rare 3pc door. Also by Williams Orton & Preston & Co. Farmington.



If you have any similar clocks, either with flat undecorated fronts (no columns), or with 3pc divided doors, even better if the centre panel is mahogany, please let me know.

Veneer Patching Extravaganza!

I've decided to do a whole bunch of veneer repairs on multiple projects all in one shot. It's always a pain to have to prepare and heat the hide glue (which I always prepare "fresh" from scratch). It's messy, time sensitive, and I usually hate having to do all the prep work. That said, once everything is ready to go, it's pretty simple to just start gluing all your pieces down. Most of the veneer patches are small chips, and don't need clamping (just masking tape pulled down tightly), while any long edges do need clamps to set up nice and flat.

The projects that I dragged out currently include the Birge & Fuller Column & Cornice (I'd like to get that one done soon), a Seth Thomas wooden works case (just the case - this was a junker that came with no door, movement, or dial, and I've been assembling parts for it for years. It's a nice early one that I don't see too often), the "Mystery" (Attributed to Elbridge Atkins) wooden works case, a beautiful crotch mahogany box (probably a tea box) which needs a lot of patches (almost every corner), and I was also going to work on my long neglected Waterbury Steeple clock, but when I took it out, I noticed it's rosewood. I have ordered some rosewood, so I'll work on that one once that comes in.

Here's the current mess that's taking up my entire dining room table.



I've mixed the glue, and it's ready to use (it's waiting in the fridge), and right now I'm cutting all the little sections of veneer that I need for 90% of the patches. Some of the boards have splits or large breaks, and those need to get glued before they can be veneered. Everything else (that I can) is getting trimmed and fitted so I can do it all in as few "sessions" as possible.

Here you can see several of the patches ready for gluing. Many are just temporarily held in their spots with tape.



Two top boards being trimmed of broken chunks, and ready for patches.



More soon.


Side note: The mirror clock is on hold until I receive the movement, which is on the way.

A Rare Find (AKA: The "Mystery" Wooden Works Clock)

I try not to overuse the term "rare" since so many people throw the term around meaninglessly, but in this case, it's not an exaggeration.

I bought this clock earlier this year (May 2014), and I meant to post it here sooner. I came across it on eBay, and since it's just barely even a case, it didn't attract too many bidders. I usually AVOID buying this kind of clock because putting it all back together will cost far more than buying a complete original clock. If you assume that a movement will cost around 80-100$ plus shipping, plus a painted dial to fit, at around 50$ plus shipping, in addition to hands, a bob, a pair of weights, recreating a backboard, fitting antique glass, and rebuilding the missing top, it hardly seems worth the trouble and expense. Especially since it's such a plain case.

HOWEVER, what attracted me to this particular clock case is it's incredible rarity. WHY is it rare? That can be a bit hard to explain, but in short, because of the way that the door is divided, and the lack of columns. More on this shortly.

As a quick side note, I just want to point out that just because an antique is rare, it doesn't necessarily make it more valuable. I would think that if this clock were complete, and placed in an auction, it would fetch about the same price as similar wooden works clocks, but I could be wrong.

The original eBay photos were quite decent, so I've included them along with some of my own.





The latch is a typical "key" shaped one from around the late 1830s, and into the 1840s. It has been damaged and bent downwards.















Here are a few of my photos. The case's main body is close to the size of a standard ogee clock, and not the normal height of a wooden works clock. The main case is 26" x 15 1/2" x 4 1/2". The upper door opening for the dial is 9 3/4" square, so the dial would likely have been around 10" x 10".









The inscription behind the central door panel (enhanced below) appears to read W. C. Kilbreath Cumberland Clock Repairer one year (Good). It would have been nice to have a date with this note. I was able to find one mention of a W. C. Kilbreath in Cumberland Ohio in an old National Tribune paper dated Jan 30th 1896, but that's all I could find.

EDIT: News! I think I found him! Unfortunately there's no mention of clock repair, but it's highly possible he worked on clocks after he retired.

Name: William Calvin KILBREATH
Birth: 18 SEP 1828 in Booths Ferry, VA. (W.Va)
Death: 30 OCT 1900
Burial: Cumberland Cem., Cumberland, OH

OBITUARY: JEFFERSONIAN Oct. 30, 1900
After an illness of but one week, with congestion of the lungs the venerable Wm. Calvin Kilbreath died at his home north of Cumberland at about 9:00 p.m., Tues. aged 72. He was born near Booth's Ferry, VA (now W.VA) sept. 18, 1828 and was married to Mary Nelson on Sept. 9, 1851. To this union eleven children were born, nine of whom survive. On the 7th of Aug., 1862 he enlisted in Co. B, 97th O.V.I and served 14 months, mostly as a hospital nurse. He was a faithful soldier, doing duty wherever assigned. Mr. Kilbreath was a member of the Presbyterian Church and was affiliated with the O.U.A.M. and G.A.R. His patriotism knew no bounds and upon every occasion he delighted to honor and display the flag for which he fought. He had been a resident of this vicinity many years and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. Beside his aged and grief stricken wife the following named children and 16 grandchildren remain: Peter N. of Cambridge; James C. of Cadiz; Margaret A. Smith of Spratt; Ella M. Moore of Zanesville; Martha E. Fox of Cumberland; U.G. of North Baltimore; C.A. and Dora O. Yerian of Cumberland and Wm. H. of Buffalo, OH. Funeral at the Pres. Church, 1:00 by Rev. H. C. Morledte. Remains laid to rest in Cumberland Cemetery.





Now, as I said, part of the reason this clock is so rare is because of the way that the door is divided into 3 sections. Very few clocks have doors with narrow panels in the centre. Several will have divisions at the bottom, like the clocks made by Silas Hoadley, which usually have a mirror below the dial, and a small painted tablet at the bottom with the "Time is Money" inscription. Almost no other clockmakers used 3 part divided doors. Many clocks have 2 doors, or built-in wooden panels that separate two doors (or a fixed panel under the door), like Putnam Bailey clocks, but none are divided like this particular clock. It's also highly unusual to see a wooden works clock case without turned columns, triangular columns, flat columns, reeded columns, or even flat/carved columns (like some rare Bishop & Bradley clocks).

I have archived (over the past decade) thousands of photos of rare and interesting clocks, both in the form of books (dozens) and from online sources (private collections, eBay listings, online auction houses, etc) and after hours of sifting through these, I found only ONE very similar clock made by Elbridge Atkins (sometimes misspelled Eldridge Atkins). The clock can be seen here:



It's not identical, only similar. It has a centre divided door, plain side pieces (no columns) and has a painted eagle tablet rather than a mahogany panel. Two other differences are the width of the side pieces flanking the door, and the use of an ivory keyhole escutcheon and "Terry" style lock instead of a simple catch. My clock has evidence that it had top chimneys, splat, and return pieces, but I can only guess what they might have looked like.

Just recently, I came across a second Elbridge Atkins clock which was sold in 2009, and that looks nearly identical to the one above. The main difference is the dial. The hands are not original.



Elbridge Atkins clocks on their own appear to be quite scarce. I have found only a few examples. This one is a typical column and splat wooden works, but it shows the label, and provides another possible splat design.





Lastly, a very unusual find was this very poor photo of an Elbridge Atkins "Bevel Case" clock, with a 3 section divided door. Bevel case clocks are early versions of Ogee clocks, and often have wooden works movements, and date to the 1830s or 1840s.



And that's all the information I've been able to gather. I'll be able to easily recreate some chimneys for the top based on the shadows, but I will have to guess the correct splat and side return designs unless I can find other similar clocks to work from. I'd appreciate any information you may have about this clock (including any other Elbridge Atkins clocks).