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Posted 4 years ago
tdesimone
(1 item)
Any help on dating this clock and model name would be appreciated! There are two patent dates inside. June 14 1881 and june 13 1882. New york, u.s.a. thank you
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Very handsome Ansonia clock
Hello tdesimone,
Welcome to Collectors Weekly, Clocks. You're sharing an Ansonia "St. Clair" with us from circa 1886. Your example has the open escapement with a porcelain enamel double-dial that appears to be in great shape.
This is one of Ansonia's Enameled Iron black mantel clocks. I'm not sure but I think that the top of the clock has been skillfully painted to look like Marble. It appears to have some type of clear finish which has started to degrade. Also, you can see areas where it has chipped or been scratched revealing the black enamel underneath. I think this is original to the clock. If you look at about the middle of this webpage, you'll see another example of the St. Clair: http://www.clockprices.com/ansonia-enameled-iron-shelf-clock.html
You can probably find other examples as well.
Is this a family heirloom, or are you a collector/dealer?
If that solves your mystery, please indicate "mystery solved" in your posting.
Thanks for sharing.
Bruce
Bruce99, thank you so much! My great uncle refurbished this clock and gave it to me, so it will he an heirloom from here on out. I will have to find out the extent of the refurbishment, but I believe it was relatively minor. What does it mean to have an open casement? I do see where there appears to be "chips" of paint in the marble but looking closely they almost appear original. I examined the base edge marble, it has a small chip also that may be newer. How do you determine the 1886 dating? I assume just experience. Thanks again.
The "Open Escapement" also known as a "Visible Escapement" or a "Brocot Escapement" refers to the Little Gear (Escape Wheel) and Anchor (Verge) that you can watch rotate and move left to right in front of the dial when the clock is running.
Here's an animation of the type of Escapement your clock has:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh1rH6WGv60
As far as the dating is concerned, I believe that the dates you mentioned in your write up are patent dates for the clock's movement. Any time you see a patent date that means that the item could have been manufactured in that year but no earlier. It could certainly have been made well after the patent date.
I got the "circa" 1886 date from one of my reference books. The St. Clair model was in the book as a reprint of an 1886 Catalog listing. You particular clock could have been manufactured several years before or after the 1886 date.
I hope that answers your questions. If so, please indicate "Mystery Solved" in your listing unless you have additional questions, in which case, ask away.
Thanks again for sharing your family clock with us.
Bruce
Bruce99, thank you so much for the information!
You're very welcome tdesimone. I'm glad we could help. There are a LOT of different models. More often than not we can't find them in any of our references. The simulated marble paint is a nice touch.