20.                   $250

Seth Thomas pillar & scroll, 1818-1827.  Mr. Thomas purchased the right to manufacture Eli Terry’s Patent Shelf Clock in 1818, but by 1822 a dispute developed between Terry and Thomas, and by 1827 a lawsuit by Terry convinced Thomas to put a patent acknowledgement on his labels.  This clock does not acknowledge the Terry patent, and so was likely made before 1827.  The 31-inch case has a dark finish and I see no repairs to the veneer, skirt, feet, or scroll-top; the brass urn finials on steel posts are Seth Thomas-style. Both glasses are old but likely recent replacements, with a great tablet, but unsigned.  The wooden dial has been cleaned to death, but has the gilded gesso decoration below the mainstem, as is typically found on ST dials.  The hands are proper modern replacements.  The 30-hour time-and-strike wood movement runs briefly and strikes without problem; there are old weights, an old pendulum bob, but no dust covers over the pulleys on top.  A stained and darkened label inside.  AAC has sold eleven similar examples over the past five years for an average of $400.  $250–$450.