Highly Unusual C. & N. Jerome Wooden Works Clock

I recently purchased an extremely rare and unusual clock made by C. & N. Jerome. If you're an avid reader of mine you will know 2 things: No 1:I avoid using "rare" to describe clocks as much as possible, since many were mass produced, and the term tends to be over used. No 2: I tend to stumble upon rare/unique oddball clocks fairly frequently. I was immediately intrigued by this clock based on the case/construction details, which don't match anything I've seen to date. In addition to the unusual case design, the clock also features several other bizarre quirks, which I'll describe.







First, the case has short columns with tall plinth blocks. This (all on its own) is by far the most unusual feature on the entire clock, and I have found only ONE OTHER wooden works clock with similar tall plinth blocks.

The case also uses a 3-part (3 glass/3 division) door. This is not super unusual, but it is much less frequently found on typical wooden works clock cases. Jerome in particular (through various partnerships and eras) was especially fond of this case feature, and I have several examples of clocks with 3 part doors between the 1830s, all the way to ogee clocks in the 1880s (made by New Haven by this date).





The lock will need a replacement key.



The next unusual feature is the use of a partially-painted zinc dial. Most similar early clocks with partially painted dials (with unpainted exposed zinc) tend to be of the ogee type (roughly 9 inches square). This particular dial is 11.5" square, and the paint work and patina both suggest at LEAST 1840s manufacture, HOWEVER, I'm unable to tell with 100% certainty if this dial is original to this clock due to the presence of extra holes in the dial support rails. If the dial is a later swap, it's fairly clear that it has been in this clock case for a very long time, as the shadow lines from the door frame all line up perfectly with the dial.











Another feature that is unusual is the presence/use of brass hands. These appear to be period hands (stamped/factory made), but it is difficult to be 100% sure, as brass ages and tarnishes fairly easily. I know from research that brass hands WERE made in the period (in the 1830s) but they tend to be found largely on "special" clocks, or paired with clock dials that have a lot of black decoration (often with gold numerals on a black background rather than black ones over gold).

The movement appears to ID as:
8.132 Ephraim Downes (Jeromes & Darrow are listed as a user, but not C & N Jerome)
8.133 Atkins & Downs (no matching makers)
8.134 E & G W Bartholomew (no matching makers)

Out of those options, (and assuming the movement is original) the Jerome and Darrow connection is the only one that makes sense.





Other notes:
The dial surround is actually a lovely (yet faded) teal blue.
The top left pulley hole has been chewed-up by a mouse (which doesn't bother me).
The upper right chimney, and left side return piece are somewhat poor replacements made from birch (not veneered). These will be rebuilt.
Slightly less common circular Terry door lock in brass.
Centre panel appears to be original paint, and in plain black (which is VERY unusual).
Upper and lower glass appears to have been replaced, and the putty in both is newer.
Lovely period pendulum bob.
Lovely door lock escutcheon.
Very nice/clear stenciling on the case/splat (top splat will be repaired and it should have 3 bumps).
Evidence on the two plinths of LATER applied gold paint (sloppily applied).
Backboard has horizontal planks.
Surprisingly little veneer damage and/or repairs (just some losses on lower front board).
Dates to approximately 1834-1839, depending which source you look at.
Label is near mint. P. Canfield Printer, Hartford.
The clock uses a less common early spiral gong, rather than a cast iron bell. The gong wire is also fairly heavy gauge (compare it to the hammer stem wire in the photos).
The height of the main body of the clock is 25.75" to the top board (not counting the splat elements). Same height as a standard ogee, and the same height as the Elbridge Atkins (both are shorter than a standard wooden works case).





















Note shadow lines around the dial edges.



I would love to know about any other examples you may know about. I have done a LOT of digging, but have only turned up ONE other clock (as mentioned) with tall plinth blocks similar to this one. That one is shown below, and it's a Jerome & Darrow in a slightly fancier case, with similar design features.

Here is the only similar clock I found, which is by Jeromes & Darrow (the partnership just before C. & N. Jerome).

New Purchase - Williams, Orton, Preston's And Co. Wooden Works

Here's a beautiful clock that I purchased recently online. Do I need more clocks? No. But this one cost me less than the price to ship it here, so I couldn't resist.



As sold, the clock was missing the splat, the right-hand return and chimney, some glue blocks, the weights, and the hands (these hands were stolen off another one of my clocks). Additionally, the original dial glass is cracked horizontally, but still held in place with the original putty.

When I bought the clock, I had assumed that the large door knob was a later addition that was covering a keyhole, but that wasn't the case. The knob is in fact, original, and I was able to find a few other Williams, Orton, Preston's & Co. clocks with the same knob.



The label is in nice, but worn and torn condition:



By far the nicest feature of this clock is the dial. Beautiful flowers, raised gilded gesso decoration, and an overall bright and clean condition:







You can see that the door was never fitted with a Terry style lock, however, it uses the same kind of Terry lock disc to lock the door:



The left side chimney and return had previously been reglued and nailed in place (with 3-4 old square nails at various angles). There was also some veneer damage:



I believe the clock originally had a reverse painted glass, but it has been fitted with a mirror since at least September 26th 1885, because there are a number of penciled notes on the pine board behind the mirror. The reason I believe that the mirror isn't original is because there are faint traces of old putty around the edges of the door. The current mirror is old and thin, and I plan to leave it as-is.



The tops of these clocks generally give you a good idea of what's missing. The missing top elements at the front are clear, but there is also a faint rectangular outline around the pulleys, which suggests that it had rectangular wooden blocks with a trapezoidal side profile. I'll try to make copies of those. Alternatively they may have been tin covers, but usually they have a different shape.





Here, some of the added nails can be seen. There are three clearly visible, with one missing on the large triangular block, and 2 deeply seated in the thin edge of the side return.



The clock largely needs just a few veneer repairs, a new top crest, chimney, and return, and some general servicing/cleaning.

An Amazing Visit - 11 New Clocks!

I'm not even sure exactly how to start this post, or what details I should include or omit, but: long story short, my good friend Jim (from Texas), whom I've known for years now, decided that he would be driving down near-enough to me to make a detour and come visit. This trip had been mentioned numerous times over the past several months (maybe since April? I can't remember), and a bunch of planning and scheduling went into it. All I knew was that he was going to bring down a "whole bunch of stuff" for me. Jim has (in the past) mailed me several items (clock books, tools, and the occasional clock), and I've always been very excited and grateful for them. Some of the tools he's sent me, like the Swiss files, are ones I use almost every day.

Jim repairs clocks, specializes in wheel-cutting, has bought and sold many clocks. I believe he makes at least two big clock-related trips across the US every year (visiting friends, seeing other collectors, and stopping by clock shows). The most recent one was in Syracuse New York (3 hours south-east of me) on August 4th. I believe he said that on this particular trip, they covered over 4500 miles, and made numerous stops across the US (as well as myself in Canada).

Anyhow, I was pretty excited to see what Jim would bring down, but I was also told not to get my hopes up too high. I wanted it to be a surprise, so I didn't really ask him any questions. There were only 3 clocks that I knew he was bringing me, because we had discussed them before hand (the pillar and scroll, the 8 Day Jerome 2-door ogee, and the Marshall & Adams). Some of these clocks had been dropped off (donated) at his shop last summer and most of them need a whole bunch of work done on them (the kind of work I do all the time).

Jim's visit was on August 5th. He arrived with his good friend George, and I gave them the tour of the house and my collection. It was nice to spend some time with other clock collectors (I have only met a few), and also meet a friend whom I've (so far) only known over the internet.

Note: Jim was the one who made the custom mirror-clock movement for my reproduction New Hampshire mirror clock: http://jcclocks.blogspot.ca/2015/07/mirror-clock-project-part-9-finished.html

Without further ado, here are the goodies he dropped off. These next several photos were taken just after the visit, and before I really looked at the clocks and unpacked the boxes:











Since there's so much to see (and too many photos and details to share for each of them), I've limited this post to ONE photo per clock. When I work on them as individual restoration projects, I'll share the other photos and details that go with them (labels, movements, dials, etc).

This first clock was a bit of a mystery for about a week. It has a Sperry lyre movement (fancy plate 8 day weight movement), but the case has a Forestville Manfg. Co. label. I could not find any matching Forestville clocks (with swivel hinges, and with this particular movement). After 5 days of research, I removed the gong base, and discovered that the Forestville label is an OVERPASTE on top of a Sperry & Shaw label. This made so much more sense. The current dial is beautiful, but it does not fit (hand shaft and winding squares aren't aligned). The mahogany on this clock is absolutely stunning. It has a sort of rich, buttery, smooth finish, and wonderful patina. All it needs is a few veneer patches, and a wax polish (and a dial, pendulum bob, key, dust covers, etc).



This 8 Day ogee might be one of the worst in the lot (condition-wise), but I was actually really looking forward to working on it. I have a pretty serious love of ogee clocks, and I don't yet own a 2-door example. This one is a Chauncey Jerome 8 Day. The centre bar between the doors is missing, it needs veneer repairs to the case, and the doors are both in terrible shape, but it's all fixable. Another funny note on this clock is that the bottom board is so rounded that the case rocks back and forth like a rocking chair (see paper wedges in the photo). This is definitely not something you want on an already fairly tipsy weight driven clock.



This is a petty rare Wadsworth, Lounsbury & Turners pillar and scroll clock. I've wanted a pillar and scroll clock for probably over 10 years now, and I came close a few times to buying one in similar condition for a few hundred dollars. This one looks like it's in pretty rough shape, but it should clean-up fairly well, and I might even be able to save some of the original finish on it. It will obviously need an entirely new top and base, several minor case repairs, and some sensitive refinishing. I don't plan to do anything with the tablet. It's obviously damaged, but you can still see what it's supposed to be, and it *is* almost 200 years old by this point (1820s). The dial, sadly, doesn't fit the movement, however, I have a 95% flaked-off dial plate in my spare parts that does fit, and I may try to do a repaint on it. The spare dial that I have can always be swapped out later.



Also fairly rare is this transitional wooden works clock by Elisha Hotchkiss. It has a lovely original tablet, original finish, and a nice label. The unfortunate back story on this one is that the entire backboard was marked-up with pencil lines and drilled full of holes (15 holes!) The original dial was also completely butchered and thrown away. The entire dial centre (with all the numerals) had been cut away. All of this for fitting this clock with a kitchen clock movement. This doesn't really affect the case too much, but it will always be permanently scarred with all the holes (even if I fill them). Fortunately the movement and dial will hide the holes, so normally none of them would be visible. All it needs is a few veneer patches, and a movement, dial, and parts (hands, weights, key, etc), and those can just be popped into it at any time. The trouble will be to find the correct short-drop movement. I believe Jim said that this clock was out of George's collection.



This next one is a really beautiful Sperry & Shaw 8 day column clock. I really like this one. It has the original dial (and special hands), fancy lyre movement, and original tablet. The dial glass is also original. It just needs veneer patches, holes filled, and touch-ups (and weights and a bob). The label on this one is in mint condition. The case has the original finish. I think once this one is done it will be one of the highlights of my collection. Everything about it is great!



Another really amazing clock is this C. & L. C. Ives triple decker. This one dates to around 1835, I believe. This is now the largest and tallest shelf clock in my collection (37.5" tall). It has a beautiful strap brass Ives movement with roller pinions, and the circle-cut-out wheels with square teeth. It will need a bell, weights, and a few small case repairs (bone escutcheon, a few small veneer chips, side returns on the top, etc.) The centre glass will probably be a reverse painting (or less likely a mirror), but I'll need to find a very thin piece of antique glass to fit the old grooves.



This one is a Marshall & Adams (Seneca Falls New York), wooden works shelf clock. This is (so far) the only clock I have with carved columns. This one is also in pretty good shape, but it will need a lot of parts for it (it is just an empty case). There are just 3 or 4 veneer chips, and the whole case is loose, but otherwise I won't need to do very much on this one. The key in the door is one of my spares. This one should have an antique mirror in the base. It's hard to gauge the size from this photo, but this is a very large clock. 32" tall, 21" wide at the crown.



This is yet another beautiful column clock. This one is by Jerome & Co. (New Haven). 8 Day, rosewood veneered, with gilt column tops and bases (I believe they were regilded since I found loose flakes of gold leaf in the case). The finish seems to have been stripped off this one (pretty well, too), so I will just need to do veneer patches, and add a few coats of shellac to it. It should have a pair of "decal type" tablets, so I'm not exactly sure what I'll do for them yet. The label in this one is also mint. There is just one small tear near the top, but aside from that it's pretty crisp and white considering the age (around 1870).



This one is a bit sad. It's an early (and really nice) Waterbury beehive case in crotch mahogany veneer, but the back board has had a huge rectangular hole cut into it. Jim bought this clock just for the glass tablet, which I've since transferred to the Brewster & Ingrahams clock (which was missing its original cut glass tablet). I will likely see if I can re-convert this one, but it will probably be a bit of a Frankenstein, and it won't be very high on my to-do list.



A lovely E & A Ingraham gallery clock. This one had been painted with gold paint, and Jim stripped it. A lot of the original gold leaf (80-90%?) is missing. I may try to re-gild it (sympathetically), and try to keep a bit of the wear and tear. It just needs a key (which I have in my spare parts) and I may try to match the hands. Either replace the hour hand to match the minute hand, or vice versa.



This is the saddest one in the lot. It's a large size Brewster & Ingraham gallery clock. The gesso finish over the wood frame is badly damaged in places, and the dial is pretty toast. And speaking of toast, there is also what looks like a candle burn-mark through part of the edge in one spot. This one will likely get a complete restoration. Dial repaint, case rebuilt (puttied/patched/repainted), full refinish, etc. It has all the parts except the hands and a key.



Jim also included some boxes of parts and movements. Some rare and interesting ones (like the Acorn Lyre Forestville movement, and the Lenderman banjo movement). The wooden works is actually a Boardman & Wells, which is what I needed for my clock in the living room (which just had a placeholder movement in it for the past 5-10 years). There are also blank ogee dials under the painted antique one on the left.



So there we are. I was absolutely blown-away by all this. My expectations were far lower, but these are largely all really nice mid 1800s clocks in pretty decent condition. I've already started repairing 5 of them, so expect more posts soon.