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86.           $500

Wm. Gilbert Clock Co. “Oriental” calendar, ca. 1901.  A 30.5-inch walnut case with detailed carvings and an old finish with a goodly amount of patina.  The very top portions of the two knob finials on top are missing.  The door glass is original, and the painted tablet of a couple of mallard ducks appears original as well and is well preserved, protected from damage by the door-mounted calendar.  The dial is old paper with some wear from cleaning; note the original inner dial that tells you a.m. from p.m., allowing you to set the calendars to advance at night.  If they advanced.  These are the most difficult calendars to get working properly and reliably, and this one doesn’t.  Note also that the minute hand, while the proper style, is a bit too long.  On the back of the dial is a large gear that turns with the hour cannon and should turn a gear on the strike arbor, which has a cam behind it that lifts the calendar arm, which connects to the door calendar lift rod which lifts and then falls on cue to advance the day and date calendar wheels. I believe the month wheel is advanced by hand, and all three wheels can be adjusted through an opening in the bottom right corner of the door.  However, right now the calendar gear on the strike chain arbor will not turn, so the calendars do not advance. The metal plate on the back of the door is a replacement, the original would have had additional instructions, along with those shown on the inside back of the case.  All in all, it’s complicated, but it’s a beautiful clock even if the calendar doesn’t work; the 8-day time and half-hour strike movement is running well, striking on a Gilbert cathedral gong.  Get a Seth Thomas or an Ithaca Calendar Clock if you really need to know the date; get this one for its looks.  AAC sold a similar example in 2023 for $500, and an oak model in 2022 for $850.  $500–$800.

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Antique American Clocks                     JANUARY 2025

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