A RARE MAHOGANY AND LAMINATED WOOD EIGHT-DAY ACORN SHELF CLOCK

Details

A RARE MAHOGANY AND LAMINATED WOOD EIGHT-DAY ACORN SHELF CLOCK
BY J.C. BROWN, BRISTOL, FORESTVILLE MANUFACTURING CO., CONNECTICUT, CIRCA 1847

The triple line-inlaid hinged door with acorn-shaped upper and bombé-shaped lower eglomise section with conforming case and sidearms with gilt acorn finial termini, the painted dial with Roman chapter ring and floral decoration, inscribed, "forestville manufg. Co., Bristol, CT., U.S.A.," the elgomise panel with painted landscape scene with Victorian gingerbread house and sailboat, on a stepped line-inlaid base, the interior labelled "Eight Day Spring clocks, Manufactured By J.C. Brown, Bristol, Connecticut" (losses to eglomise)--24½in. high, 15in. wide

Lot Essay

The manufacture of acorn shelf clocks is associated with the company of J.C. Brown in Bristol, Connecticut. Producing acorn clocks between the years 1847-1850, the earlier pieces made by the firm, such as this example, are finer and more shapely in appearance than their later counterparts (Palmer, Treasury of American Clocks (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1967), pp. 141-146). An acorn clock by Brown with identical eglomise scene is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and another is illustrated in Sack, American Antiques from Isreal Sack Collection, vol. IX, p. 949, #P3754.