Birge & Fuller round gothic double-steeple with wagon-spring movement, 1844-1848.  This is now the fifth example of this rare style of wagon spring double steeple; you can find three other examples of this model in the NAWCC Bulletin links shown at the bottom of this description, and the fourth clock was sold by Schmitt Horan in 2020 and by AAC in 2023 for $2950.  There is also a fusee movement example.  The 21.5-inch mahogany case has a clean finish and two original candlesticks – note that it has a single candlestick on each side, with the right candlestick tip being damaged.  The button feet may be original; the three glasses are period, with well-preserved Fenn frosted glass tablets that are commonly found on these models.  The contoured dial has very old paint with considerable chipping and light soiling; the hands are period.  The brass, 30-hour time-and-strike movement was made by Chauncey Boardman and is so marked; it is running and striking on a wire gong, driven by the wagon-spring in the bottom of the case.  This movement differs from those found in the four  other round gothic clocks in that this is a conventional 30-hour time-and-strike movement; in the other examples the positions of the time and strike trains are reversed, and the movements are not signed.  Ken Roberts suggests that the reversed train movements were made by Joseph Ives (see the 1992 reference below), probably in limited supply; as the substitution of a conventional movement had no effect on the functionality of the clock, it may be that they just put in whatever movement was on hand.  The label is dark but readable and mostly complete.  An interesting example of a very rare clock.  $2500-$3500.

Links to Bulletin articles on this model:

1956    1992     1995    1995

Antique American Clocks                    January 2026