Posted 3 years ago
shanleigh
(1 item)
My grandfather remembers this clock in his grandmother’s house when he was a boy (1930’s). It is currently not working, and I intend to get it repaired. Just curious if anyone knows anything about it. There are no markings on it that I can read that would indicate where it was made, etc.
Hi, shanleigh. :-)
My eye spies the name "ANSONIA CLOCK" at the bottom of the interior.
About the Ansonia Clock Company:
http://www.antiqueansoniaclocks.com/ansonia-clock-history.php
Hopefully, bruce99 will chime in with his expertise.
In the meantime, you might want to try to fix the orientation of your pictures. Collectors Weekly Show & Tell software doesn't play well with all makes and models of digital cameras installed in smart phones and tablets.
Sometimes its enough to edit the images on your local device, and make the long sides of the rectangular image just a little bit shorter, then edit your post, replacing the current versions with your edited ones.
Thank you! I was wondering why the pictures loaded that way. Will try to correct it.
Absolutely gorgeous antique clock
One small photo and "etc." doesn't really give us much to go on, but keramikos's sharp eye saved the day. You have an altered model Ansonia called their "Aden" from circa 1894. The original crest has been replaced with a rudimentary wood shape that doesn't reproduce the original but it doesn't look bad, just very basic. It has been nicely finished and is certainly better than nothing, in my opinion. I couldn't do any better but I'm not a skilled wood carver. It certainly adds to the provenance of the clock. Perhaps someone in your family was "handy" with wood working and very good with finishings.
Here is another example which shows the original crest: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/37762991_ansonia-walnut-mantle-clock
Ansonia made the clock in Oak and Black Walnut. I'm guessing that your heirloom clock is in Black Walnut.
You can probably find additional examples using "Ansonia Aden" as your key words.
Hope that helps and thank you keramikos for narrowing things down. There are way too many of these types of wood cased antique American clocks to get very far without help of some kind, especially if the clock has been altered.
Regards,
Bruce
Bruce99, Woo hoo!
I was hoping you'd see this post, and further ID the clock. Thank you. :-)
FYI, my eyes aren't that sharp. Originally, there were two pictures, and one of them was a view with the front door of the clock open. When the OP fixed the orientation of the surviving picture, they elected not to fix/replace the other one, but rather just eliminated it.
You can still just barely see the "ANSONIA CLOCK" in the surviving picture, but it's tougher sledding.
I did wonder if the top of the wooden case was a rather rough mend, and you've confirmed that. It's nice to see an undamaged original. It gives the OP more information for restore options.
Hey keramikos,
I originally glanced at the post and decided that there was too little to go on. There are thousands of these types of clocks. If I hadn't noticed your post I would have kept on. Life's too short.
The original top can be recreated and stained by someone who is skilled in woodwork and finishing. However, if a family member performed the mend, it would be just as well to let the clock tell the story. Of course, that is completely up to the current caretaker. :)
Good job! Like I said, you saved the day.
Regards,
Bruce
Bruce99, Good point about the history behind the mend. If the OP knows for a fact that a family member did the mending, they may want to leave it as is.
Here's a listing for another Ansonia Aden clock with multiple pictures (including one in which you can clearly see the label at the bottom of the interior with the legend "ANSONIA CLOCK Co. U.S."):
https://www.ebth.com/items/11553886-ansonia-clock-co-aden-eight-day-walnut-mantel-clock-late-19th-early-20th-c
Thank you so much for all of the helpful information. I am sorry for not giving you more to work with and will try to be more informative and helpful in future posts. I couldn’t make out the name of the clock for certain and didn’t have any background to even attempt a guess. I will ask my mother if my grandfather ever mentioned a repair to the front of the clock.
shanleigh, You're welcome. :-)
I myself am not a clock expert (that would be bruce99), but I suppose I've seen the name "Ansonia" around this forum enough that it seeped into my brain, and when I saw that label inside your clock, I recognized it.
Per the nawcc dot org thread below, the Aden is featured in a catalog dated 1894, but there might be some wobble room in that date. That is, a given Aden clock could be older or younger than 1894, presumably because the production span is unknown.
Somebody else had an Ansonia Aden clock where the crest had broken off, so I suspect that's not an uncommon mishap. It has a slightly different pattern on the glass from yours, and to me that suggests minor changes to the model over the course of production:
https://mb.nawcc.org/threads/please-help-need-clock-date-name.163516/
The book "Ansonia" by Tran Duy Ly:
https://www.worldcat.org/title/ansonia-clocks-watches/oclc/41537368&referer=brief_results
https://www.isbns.net/isbn/9780930163877/
Good luck in getting your family heirloom restored. :-)
Yes, you are welcome Shanleigh.
Not to worry about the scarcity of information to go on with keramikos around. In any case I'm glad that we could work together to help provide some information for you to go on.
Your clock may have suffered more damage than meets the eye at some point in its past.
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the glass tablet was broken and replaced. If so, someone did an outstanding job! Perhaps the replaced Crest was only basic because the repairer/restorer didn't have a pattern to go off of. Someone could have rescued this clock and saved it from going into landfill somewhere. Who knows? That's one of the things that can be so fascinating about delving into the provenance of an antique piece.
Speaking of stencil patterns on glass tablets manufacturers would often have a range of patterns they would use during different consecutive runs of the model. The methods and materials used changed over time. Some were quite fragile and could easily be removed. Be careful not to use anything abrasive or too harsh if you decide to clean the inside of the glass. Actually, I would not recommend it. Just clean the outside. That would be much safer.
By the way, when the word "circa" is used, it implies some uncertainty about the date of manufacture. As keramikos has already stated, your example may have been manufactured several years before or after the catalog date it was first identified in.
Speaking of changes in styles, you may find it interesting to know that Ansonia produced a completely different case/clock design under the name of Aden in circa 1906.
These "Kitchen" aka "Gingerbread" wood cased clocks were very popular, relatively inexpensive and fairly accurate time keepers of their day. Almost all of the American clock manufacturers produced an extensive line of them with hundreds if not thousands of different designs offered to the public. Normally, when scanning through a catalog I try to quickly find a model by looking at the shape of the Crest. It was only during my second run through the illustration/drawings that I found the rest of the pattern match to your heirloom. I could have easily missed it entirely.
I have a library of catalog reprints by Tran Duy Ly. If one is interested and considering a purchase, I always recommend going to the publisher, Arlington Books. This is not a secured website but it gives a comprehensive list of titles available as well as directions for ordering directly and securely. See: http://www.arlingtonbooks.com/
Best regards,
Bruce
Bruce99:
"Speaking of stencil patterns on glass tablets manufacturers would often have a range of patterns they would use during different consecutive runs of the model."
Kind of like vintage sewing machine decal sets, huh? };-)
Keramikos,
I know absolutely nothing about vintage sewing machines. We have an old Singer that belonged to my wife's mother. It's heavy but there are significant plastic housing parts. I used it to make PPE for healthcare workers in New York and New Jersey during the height of the shortages in 2020. What a horrible time, eh? If nothing else, hopefully we'll have enough masks with this latest surge of Covid cases among those who have chosen to not get vaccinated.
Vintage Sewing machines, eh? I'll take your word for it my friend. All I know about them is "Sears" and "Heavy". :)
Bruce
I said "Singer" above. I meant "Sears".
Bruce99, Believe me, I don't know everything there is to know about vintage sewing machines. Just for starters, I don't even own a vintage sewing machine, unless you want to count a cusp of the 1970s/1980s economy model Bernina.
The pandemic: horrible. Yet, who doesn't have pandemic fatigue?
That was very nice of you to make masks. <3