185.               $500

James C. Cole banjo, ca. 1830.  Cole worked in Rochester NH in the first half of the nineteenth century as a clock and watch maker and jeweler.  He made tall-case clocks and banjos, but only one other banjo is listed in the Antique Clocks Price Guide.  This banjo is 33 inches tall with a 7-inch painted metal dial that includes his signature, probably restored in part where there appears to be some inpainting.  The minute hand has been repaired.  The convex dial glass is a replacement, as is the finial.  Both glasses are old and the eglomise paintings may be original; the throat glass is cracked at the top. Note that there is some molding missing on the left side of the throat.  The brass T-bridge pinned movement is unsigned, running strongly with a lead weight.  A rare example from this maker; AAC sold this banjo in 2021 for $700.  $500-$700.