136.           $2400

Silas B. Terry vertical balance wheel shelf clock, ca. 1850. A 27.5-inch case with refinished mahogany veneer and an uncommon lever-spring movement; this movement is also seen in #163, an oversized steeple.  The dial glass is original, with the original putty; the lower glass is modern with a repainted tablet.  The original wooden dial board has a cutout to view the balance wheel, and a cutout for the seconds bit.  The hands are period, the seconds hand is a modern replacement.  The 8-day, time-and-strike brass movement is running, beating seconds, and striking on the wire gong.  Note the small square weights that are compounded to allow the clock to run for 8 days; note also the black wooden winding drums.  Eli Terry patented a “friction preventer” for clocks with vertical balance wheels that took some of the weight of the wheel off the pivot; it took the form of a suspended stirrup behind the wheel which supported the balance wheel staff and rotated back and forth as the wheel turned back and forth.  This stirrup is difficult to see from the front but is present on this movement and the one in #163.  These are the only clocks in which I have seen this used.  There is no label with this clock, and other examples also lacked a label.   There are a couple of veneer chips on the right side of the cornice and the dust cover on top is missing.  This clock sold in 2020 at Schmitt Horan for $2800.  $2400-$3000.