Clock type · Domestic
Pillar and Scroll Shelf Clocks
Partially verifiedAmerican shelf clocks with slender pillars, a scrolled top and delicate feet, associated with early Connecticut production.
Movement & mechanism
- Wooden thirty-hour weight-driven movements in most examples
- Painted wooden dials with a reverse-painted glass tablet below
- Weights descending inside the narrow case
Identification
- Scrolled cresting and slender turned pillars
- Wooden plates and wheels visible when the back is opened
- Reverse-painted glass tablet, frequently damaged or replaced
Terminology
- Reverse painting on glass
- Wooden movement
- Thirty-hour
Known variations
- Shelf and mantel-sized versions
- Later brass-movement imitations
Collecting notes
Originality decides value and interest: check that movement, dial and case belong together, and prefer honest wear over refinishing. Movement work belongs with a clockmaker; cleaning a dial or case yourself commonly destroys the evidence that dates the clock.
Related photographs
No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.
Sources & references
- Britten, F. J., Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers
- Loomes, B., reference works on British clockmakers (edition-dependent)
- Museum catalogue descriptions of comparable examples
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.