54.              $250

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 clock.  The case is 40.5 inches tall with the cornice section of the clock being a modern replacement (note the difference in coloration, probably because the cornice is walnut and not mahogany-veneered). Most of the case is veneered in mahogany, with figured mahogany used on the sides and columns.  It stands on two large paw feet in front and turned feet in back.  The cornice mirror is period, the dial glass original, the middle glass period and backed by a printed image; the lower glass is period with a modern applied image and surround and is held in place with glazier’s points without putty.  The wooden dial has been aggressively cleaned, leading to some loss of gilding in the dial ring; the hands are not typical of these makers.  The unsigned brass 8-day, time-and-strike movement runs for a while and then stops, and I can’t get the strike chain to run.  There are two large iron weights and a period pendulum bob.  I believe that this clock originally had a reverse-painted glass inside on the backwall and hence, the peculiar backboard that clearly had something mounted in front of it, and no label.  AAC sold a very similar example with a reverse-painted glass of Saratoga Springs in 2024; if this clock were in better condition with an interior glass it could bring $1500.    $250-$400.