204.         $250

Wm. Bond Boston banjo, ca. 1850.  A 29.5-inch North Attleboro-style “No. 5” cherry case with mahogany veneer on the half round trim around the throat and lower door.  The wooden bezel around the dial lacks veneer and may have been grain-painted.  The three glasses are old but the dial glass may be a replacement; the lower glasses retain good black and gold tablets and are backed by cardboard.  The throat glass and frame are mounted on two hinges, with a hook-latch on the left.  There are hook latches for the dial bezel and lower door as well.  The bottom of the case has been broken out by a weight fall and poorly repaired.  The iron dial holds old/original paint and numbering, with a gold ring inside the Roman numerals and “Will ^m Bond Boston” below the mainstem.  The dial is mounted with four screws and there are finely carved iron barbed arrow hands; the presence of additional mounting holes behind the dial suggests that this may not be the original dial.  The banjo timepiece movement mounts with diagonal fillister screws and has a T-bridge suspension, recoil escapement, a straight click pawl, and a steel rod pendulum with a keystone at the top and a brass bob; it is running nicely.  The weight is lead with a brass pulley, a wooden weight shield, and a tie-down lacking a clip.  Very simple glue blocks.  There are some unusual and early characteristics here for an 1850’s production banjo: the T-bridge suspension, lead weight, a hinged throat piece, gold ring on the dial with carved iron hands, and backing on the glasses, all of which appear to be original.  The large opening in the bottom glass is also unusual.  William Bond was a noted English clockmaker best known for chronometers, but he and his sons ran a shop in Boston from 1798 to 1858.  Bond died in 1848.  It is unclear why this clock bears his name only, as the business was listed as Bond & Son by 1813 and as Bond & Sons by 1844.  $250–$500.