220.                 $100

George Hills (attr.) mirror clock,ca. 1850.  Hills made mirror clocks in OG cases with lever-spring movements that he bought from other makers, including Chauncey Jerome.  This clock is 36 inches long with dark mahogany veneer and an old finish; there is a chip at the top right corner. The mirror is old but not necessarily original, the dial glass has been rebacked and possibly entirely repainted.  I believe the dial pan is a replacement with a less-than-perfectly repainted dial and two slightly mismatched hands.  When I removed the dial to look at the movement the recent words of a past President immediately came to mind – “What the hell is going on here?!” There is a lever-spring movement and a bell strike, but only a single winding arbor.  The movement, presumably 8-day, is unsigned and I do not recognize the maker.  It will not run but will strike; every time I think I have seen it all, a movement comes along that changes that conceit.  There is no label, as was typical of Hills, but he often signed the dial.  AAC has sold two Hills clocks, neither with this movement, for $200 and $250.  $100–$250.

Thanks to Pat Hagans and Dale Beske for clueing me in that this is a Charles Kirk double escapement movement and is probably a 30-hour movement.  It is shown on page 92 of Ly's American Clocks Vol. 3.