Posted 5 years ago
rcharest
(1 item)
This clock was found inside a boarded up fire place in a house that was built circa 1850 in Columbia, Texas (now called West Colombia). My grandfather was was working on his house after the war (1947) trying to find out why the wall between the living room and kitchen was so thick compared to the rest of the walls in the house. It turns out there was a fireplace there.. It was wrapped in onion and potato sacks and sitting on a ledge just underneath the flu of the chimney along with several other items. The house was previously owned by two sisters who were born there (1862 and 1863) and lived in the house their entire lives. They inherited the house from their father. The two sisters died in the early 1930's.
The speculation on the why the clock was there is this. The family briefly left the home after the Civil War (1865-1867) and supposedly placed the clock and other valuables in the chimney and boarded it up for safe keeping until their return. This was a practice that happened after the war in the south for fear from carpet baggers and the like stealing and looting southern homes. The family did return, but it is unknown why the fireplace was not uncovered and the valuables reclaimed. The two sisters would not have had a memory of the clock and fireplace due to their age when they left and it is possible they were never told about the fireplace or the valuables inside the chimney.
I do not know if the latter story is true. I do not know the real real age of the clock or when it was made and what type or model it is, if anyone here knows that would be nice to hear about. If anyone can figure out a manufacture time period that could either debunk or give creditability to the story, that would be great as well.
Beautifully carved clock with lovely golden design on front
Nice story, I hope that you can find it to be true. The clock is in great condition. Most of them that I have seen, have wear to the gold paint on the glass.
To find out more, you must open the backside and have a closer look at the mechanism. The clockmaker has probably ingraved it with some sort of mark which can be found in reference books. The style of the case is rural 1850-1870.
They call this style gingerbread or mantel clock. It's a very nice one, what a lucky find!
Very interesting story. Thanks for sharing it and your clock with us.
I don't know about the Civil War timing though. Your clock is a New Haven Wood cased mantel clock that was their "Merchants Line". There were three models in the line designated "A", "B", and "C". Your clock is "C". They were all very similar with slight differences in the wood patterns. This is how New Haven marketed and distributed many of their wood case models. For another example, here is a link to their Merchant Line "B" model:
https://www.lofty.com/products/antique-c-1890-new-haven-oak-time-strike-alarm-gingerbread-kitchen-parlor-mantel-clock-1-n4zcy
The Merchants Line was packed, assorted 6 in a box.
According to my reference this model if from circa 1911. The clock could have been manufactured several years before or after that date (taken from a 1911 New Haven Catalog), but I doubt that it is old enough to be from the Civil War era, but certainly during the Sisters' adulthood. Perhaps it was their "Time Capsule". You mentioned other items enclosed in the fireplace as well. They could date much earlier, of course, but I seriously doubt they were placed by the parents unless the Sisters opened the wall up to add their own items before closing the wall up again. I suppose that is possible.
As Lamplover78 states, this style clock case is often referred to as "Kitchen" or "Gingerbread". It appears your clock is made from Oak. It listed for around $4.50 which when adjusted for inflation would have been about $120 in 2017. Not cheap but affordable. The Kitchen/Gingerbread models were very popular. Most all of the major American Clock Manufacturers offered many different models to the Market.
Your clock appears to be all original. The Stencil Pattern on the glass is the same design illustrated in the Catalog. Interestingly, this same pattern was often used on the Seth Thomas "Eclipse" model which was offered as a Mantel and Wall clock. Here is another example: https://www.prices4antiques.com/Wall-Clock-Seth-Thomas-Eclipse-Walnut-8-Day-27-inch-D9753864.html
I hope that solves one part of your mystery. As is usually the case, answers lead to more questions. In any case, if your mystery is "solved" please indicate as much in your posting. There should be a little checkbox that you can click on to do so.
Welcome to Collectors Weekly by the way!
Regards,
Bruce
I have a clock identical to the photos attached to this story. Is there any more information that anyone could share with me on this particular design? I am interested in selling it. It runs, chimes & keeps time perfectly - I was so surprised. The "4" is almost entirely rubbed off from possibly a mechanism that rubbed it(?) I have done extensive image searching for New Haven clocks and this article is the only thing online I have found with images matching my clock. Thank you for reading & for any info you're able to give. If you're interested in purchasing it, y'all get first dibs. :)