176.           $2500

Joseph Ives 30-day double-steeple with wagon-spring movement, 1850-1856.  A very  rare 30-day wagon-spring clock devised by J. Ives, made after Birge & Fuller and others had popularized the double-steeples.  The steeple-on-frame case is 26 inches tall, veneered in walnut (mahogany?), with two candlesticks on each side.  Good veneer all around, with a long-gone piece missing from the back side of left top-piece.  The three glasses are old, with a frosted-and-cut glass in the middle door and a period tablet, well-preserved, in the bottom door.  The flat metal dial has been repainted and antiqued; the hands are period.  The 30-day movement is unusual and designed for a steeple case; it is not signed.  It is running, driven by the lever-spring movement at the bottom of the case.  The label is a correct replacement.  I can find only one other sale, at Schmidt’s Antiques in 2017 for $2800, although I am told on good authority that that clock was inauthentic.  $2500-$5000.

An eagle-eyed collector (Jake Henry) noted that the anchor escapement is mounted backwards - it should be reversed such that the crutch descends on the left side.  This is an easy fix that I will leave to the next owner.  I have confirmed this observation with my good friend Philip Morris, Director of Museum Collections at the NAWCC headquarters.

As an aside, it is amazing that this clock runs with the anchor backwards, but it does!  Here is link to a short video of it running: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1upTj4wnjxku9CP0wZ0lyCEzFmzAjY2Xo/view?usp=drive_web