26.                   $1500

Marshall & Adams Empire shelf clock, 1834-1836.  Chauncey and Elmer worked out of Seneca Falls, NY, midway between Syracuse and Rochester; Chauncey had the money and Elmer the ability.  Elmer bought out Chauncey in 1836 and continued in business on his own for a year, until the economic crash of 1837 put him out of business.  They manufactured both wood movement and brass movement clocks concurrently, the brass clock movements for the high-end market.  Their cases were modeled on those of Asa Munger, upstate New York’s most successful clock manufacturer.  They (Adams) made two 8-day brass movements, one based on Joseph Ives’ strap-brass movement, and a second much less common movement based on an S.B. Terry movement.  The latter is the movement used in this outstanding example of their work.  Adams was particularly fond of reverse-painted curtain tablets, as seen here; there was usually a paper lithograph inside on the backwall or, rarely, a reverse-glass, silk-screened image as found here of the Saratoga Springs resort.  Other significant features include the reverse-painted glass entablature in the cornice, the glass door handles, and the large carved paw feet (turned feet in the back) on the 40-inch case in mahogany veneer.  All five glasses are original; the hands are replacements and there is no label that I can find.  The unsigned Adams movement is running and striking on a wire gong, driven by two large iron weights, and regulated by a period pendulum bob.  You won’t find an example any nicer than this one; AAC sold this clock in 2022 for $1700.  $1500-$1800.

Delivery in the eastern half of the US for $200.