Posted 11 years ago
Tutzie
(24 items)
This Black Forest cuckoo clock (ca. 1880) is second to the last of my 'lucky purchases'. It was advertised on Craigslist in January of 2011 for $50.00, and I thought it was a joke but quickly responded anyway. If I was beat to the punch, I at least wanted to tell the seller that he was offering this clock at a ridiculously low price! 18 nerve wracking hours later, the seller, who happened to have a very strong Asian accent, finally contacted me via telephone and said someone was coming to his home (60 miles away from me in San Jose) to view it. Yes, I did something I probably shouldn't have done, but I told him he was giving the clock away at $50.00. It was apparent that he didn't know any better re: the value. With that said, he cancelled his previous appointment in time, and I raced down the freeway and paid his wife $225. The clock obviously had been in someone's attic for a long, long time. Most of the numerals were missing as well as the hands, and minor stuff like the pendulum rod and bellows. Orig. carved pendulum bob was there, too. The last picture gives an indication of how filthy it was. I had cleaned off some of the dust to see what was underneath. Roy at Bonehands carved a new set of bone numerals and a beautiful set of hands. I still want my clock guy to install the tiny nail heads in the numerals. I watched him do it with precision with another (bone hands) cuckoo clock in his shop. With the exception of a very small 1 inch piece of horizontalperpendicular 'fir tree branch' at the very top left side and a piece of mushroom cap, the walnut case is in perfect condition. If I ever wanted to have the two little missing pieces restored, it can be done here in the Bay Area. The overall height and width is 32" x 20"; pheasants are 18" from head to tail. One of my favorite things that this carver did was carve a very authentic animal 'burrow' into the base of each fir tree. The 30 hour movement has not been cleaned yet, yet the clock keeps phenomenal time for a cuckoo clock and it has a nice strong cuckoo call on the hour and 1/2 hour.
Love the carving, great looking clock.
If you find a chance, you might enjoy seeing this older posting:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/108149-14k-white-gold-elgin-pocket-watch
The carving is beautifully detailed! I bet it sounds as good as it looks!
Thank you Kerry! And see my response to your December posting! Loved that story about the Ebay win, too...
You're very welcome and yes I saw the comments, Thank You. I'll post a couple more of the "Mini" I have in the next couple days
Yeah pops52, it really does have a pleasant cuckoo sound. I only have three 30 hour wall cuckoo clocks and as much as I love the carved cases and such, re-setting the time and pulling up the weights gets a little 'old' because I do stop the cuckoo clocks at around 10:30 pm. All of my other 8+ day clocks run continuously and it's not a big deal to wind them every Sunday whether they need it or not. I want clocks to do what they are supposed to do - keep time and drive my company absolutely NUTS!
Lucky you! "You dun good".
Thanks blunderbuss2, I'm glad you like it! Keep in mind that this luck made up for all the rest of the clocks that I inadvertently paid through the nose for :) I've got one of those sitting on my mantle... arrrgghhh
Hey Tutsie, life's like that. Especially when buying on ebay. C'est l'vive. Catch that rare one when you can!
Blunderbuss! OMG, I so RARELY buy/bid on a clock on Ebay. There are two sellers on the East coast that I trust implicitly for listing good clocks on ebay and their incredible packing is unreal! I've done a buy it now with them a couple of times within the last few years. I did break my rule a few months ago and bid on the FMS swinger clock that is posted here. I probably overpaid a bit because I had the 'matching' finial clock case parts here. My other clock bidding is with the bigger (clock) auction companies, and that can be risky, to say the least. And you are right, such is life. At least I'm not addicted to heroin...