10.                   $200

Silas Hoadley shelf clock “Union Must Be Preserved”, ca. 1832.  In 1830 President Andrew Jackson use a dinner toast to state “Our Federal Union, it must be preserved!” in response to the pro-nullification arguments of South Carolinians, including his vice president, John C. Calhoun.  These words, a repudiation of the right of a state to secede from the Union, reverberated across the country and became a rallying cry of the North.  Silas Hoadley had a knack for pithy aphorisms; his first was the Benjamin Franklin quote “Time is Money” which you can find on many of his clocks (e.g., #9).  It appears he adopted “Union Must Be Preserved” after 1830; you can find it on many of his clocks made after that time.  This is one of his more common models, 29.5 inches tall with two glasses and a glass across the top with the rallying cry of the day.  All three glasses are old, but the banner and the lower tablet have been repainted, the bald eagle on the American shield being appropriate to the pro-Union theme.  There are two painted quarter-columns on the edges which have also been restored.  The wooden dial shows some soiling, but the spandrels are colorful, with good gilt highlighting of the chapter rings.  The hands are period.  The 30-hour wooden movement runs briefly but while the strike chain turns, the hammer does not strike.  It has ivory bushings, as advertised on the torn label.  A wonderfully restored clock.  $200–$400.