Antique American Clocks                      January 2020

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457.    $1500

Winterhalder & Hofmeier bracket chime, ca. 1880?  Another large (monumental?) table clock in quarter-sawn oak with high relief carvings that include acanthus leaves on top formed into gargoyle faces on the pediment; carved columns on the front that depict animal heads at the top and the faces of kings(?) on each side, above exquisitely carved roses. There are additional acanthus leaf borders.  On each side there is a face carved in the fretwork – this clock has a lot going on!  It was likely made for the English market.  The 21-inch high by 13.5-inch wide and 10-inch deep case has no splits, chips, or missing pieces that I can see, and just a bit of wear on the top.  It is remarkably clean given all the nooks and crannies, and clearly has been well-maintained.  The back door has a metal screen over fabric; the flat glass in the front door is old and wavy.  The brass dial is impressive in its own right, with a king’s face at the top surrounded by ornate gilded decorations, a silvered dial ring and a matte gold center, all on a shiny brass backplate.  There is a fast/slow adjustment at the top left of the dial, and the chime selector on the right.  You have a choice of Whittington chimes on 8 bells, or Westminster chimes on 4 gongs.  It counts the hours on a fifth heavy gong.  You can listen to the bells, light and airy here, or the deep sonorous gongs here.  The cord on the left triggers a repeat of the last quarter-hour chime and the hour strike (Grand Sonnerie). The large brass, 3-train fusee movement is clean as a whistle and has the W&H logo at the bottom of the back plate.  It is running, striking the hours, and chiming on the quarter hours as expected.  There are two door keys and one winding key. I found two comparable (but not identical) sales in the Antique Clocks Price Guide, one of which sold in 2014 at Schmitt’s for $2800, and one sold by Horton’s in 2002 for $3500.  You don’t find examples that strike on both bells and gongs very often.  $1800-$3000.

Please note - this movement is not fusee, as stated earlier.

 

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