45.                   $400

Orton, Preston & Co. Eight Day Clock, 1835-1837.  These guys worked in Farmington, CT, between Bristol and Hartford.  Go a bit further west from Bristol and you are in Thomaston, after passing through Terryville and Plymouth; turn south and you’ll be in Waterbury; turn north and you’ll be in Torrington.  In this part of Connecticut you couldn’t throw a stone and not hit a clockmaker in the early 1800’s.  This 8-day, wooden works clock is 38.5 inches tall with an interesting gilded and painted gesso eagle splat. I don’t believe I have seen a painted gesso splat; the acanthus leaves are painted green.  The mahogany veneer is complete with a clean finish and no obvious repairs; the full-length columns appear to retain their original faux painting with gilded capitals and plinths.  The dial glass is original and quite wavy, with the original putty; the mirror is a modern replacement.  The wooden dial is very clean and has been renumbered; the diamond hands are period and appropriate.  The 8-day, time-and-strike wooden movement is running like a champ, driven by two 12-lb modern cast iron 8-day wooden works weights.  The movement has ivory bushings, as advertised on the label, and strikes on a large iron bell.  It is a short-drop movement, with the case length being needed to accomplish an 8-day run with compounded weights (on brass pulleys).  There is a modern pendulum bob, winding crank, and a good label inside.   $400–$600.