Hello Mary,
Thank you for sending in this interesting carved mantel clock to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to determine the fair market value of this item for you today.
TITLE:
Tramp Art, chip carved and finely made Cathedral mantel clock on appropriate Tramp Art shelf, clock movement (not seen) is spring driven and has time, strike and musical chimes (music box attached to the structure utilizing a lever at the back of the case), maker unknown, back panel signed in pencil 1906, made in a northern tier state in the USA, circa 1906.
DEFINITION OF TRAMP ART:
Tramp Art is an art movement found throughout the world where small pieces of wood, primarily from discarded cigar boxes and shipping crates, are whittled into layers of geometric patterns having the outside edges of each layer notch carved. The artists used simple tools such as a pocket knife to carve the recycled wood. It was popular in the years between the 1870s to the 1940s after which the art form started to decline. It was made in prodigious numbers. The most common forms were the box and the frame. Although there were no rules or patterns to lend commonality in the artists’ work there were objects made in every conceivable shape and size including full sized furniture and objects of whimsy. My own impression is that this form of art was inspired by the work of German carvers working in the Black Forest region of southern Germany in the 19th century, although they worked in the later 19th century with more machinery than we usually associated with Tramp Art clock production here in America. In the USA the regions that fostered tramp art carvings, including clocks, were usually found across the northern tier of states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio etc., areas where Germans immigrants settled extensively. (It has not been proven to be a German art form, but I suspect that was the origin, at least in my own opinion.)
PROVENANCE:
"Inherited from father. No idea where he bought. Believe was built in 1906 from pencil on back panel."
Further examination of the inside of the clock reveals a date of 1896 and the name of the clockmaker, Henry Orth. Research from the client is as follows, "The maker was Henry Orth, a single child, who came to the U.S. from Germany in 1870 (age 10). He lived in Sandusky, Ohio (a small city about 150 miles from my father who bought the clock). Henry was single until 1899 and had no children. His wife Louisa died in 1942. He dated the clock to 1896 when he was still single with no family of his own leaving him time to work on such an intricate project. He was listed in one document as a dyer at a steam and dye shop and elsewhere later as a dry cleaner."
CASE: 37” tall x 26” wide x 10-12” deep – the form of this piece of sculpted wood is a Gothic Cathedral with features that are suggestive of German Gothic architecture (rather than English, French and Italian). The main emphasis on tapered turret type towers tends to be seen, not so much in the English style of cathedral (Salisbury is an example) but more in the French Cathedrals, and the French style was the one followed by the Germans (see a photo of the cathedral at Cologne). German Gothic architecture had a vertical emphasis, with pointed arches and large stained-glass windows, sometime running the length of the wall inside a room. Walls were supported by external arched flying buttresses that allowed for greater height. (Not seen in your example) German Gothic churches often included spires, tall tapered structures on top of roofs or towers. One other feature of gothic churches in Germany is that each of the hallways or aisles. In this construction of your cathedral clock, it appears that the nave and choir main aisle would be the same height as the two side aisles. Inside it there is a crossing of the nave, the ceiling would be constructed at the same height. In this German type of construction with ceiling all being of the same height, such a cathedral would have no need for flying buttresses, which are not seen in this example of a Hall cathedral, as it was known in Germany. On the exterior there is a canted nave roof, which I would normally consider the pediment of the clock case. It connects to of the front towers and the pediment is surmounted by four spire type towers consisting of four or five sides and tapered to a point at the top where there is a carved wooden finial roughly in the shape of a tree. The canted roof of the building has open pierced fretwork in a foliate pattern while each of the pierced wooden towers has a clearly delineated fenestrated cross. There are small carved fenestrated fleur-de-Lys ornaments suspended under the nave pediment. The polygon shaped towers continue to descend on either side of the façade of the building retaining their shape and form and occupy the length of the clerestory of the nave down to the first balcony and below the clock dial which replaces the oculus window of the façade of the cathedral. The pierced wooden upper balcony is missing a small piece of the railing at the front, but more importantly is decorated below with pointed concave Gothic arches across the entire building facade. This upper railing would be on the same level as the ‘gallery’ inside the cathedral while the lower balcony, also with a complex carved ornamental design seen both above and below the railing. On the façade and just below the lower railing, we see a gentle rounded arch filled with open fretwork in the design of foliage, flowers and crosses above the main entrance. The lower railing would be at the level of the arcade if one were standing in the nave. The main portal or main entrance has rounded Gothic doors with pierced crosses flanked by two lancet shaped doors. The windows seen throughout the sculpture have open fretwork designs, all in a manner similar to what has been previously described. To either side of the portal there are wooden rounded arches covering the walkways. The church appears to sit on a substantial rectangular box, approximately 4-5 inches in height and having blind pierced fretwork across the façade of the box, the latter resting on a variegated multi-colored marble platform. It is very possible that the box the cathedral sits on contains the Music box you mention. I have no way of knowing since I cannot see inside to see either the musical mechanism or the movement itself. The interior of the csae reveals the true patina of the old wood and confirms that this clock and all associated with it are antique and at least 100-125 years old at this point in time.
“Builder added music box with lever to back.” I just cannot see enough of this mechanism to describe it except for having levers and pulleys to operate the music box. Rarely do I find a machine-made music box in conjunction with this type of tramp art. With further photos it appears to be a simple spicule type music box located below the american made movement and connected to it with wires to operate the tunes. (see below for the clock mechanism)
DIAL: The dial replaces the Gothic Oculus window found on the facade of Gothic cathedrals. If we just look at the shape of the dial plate centering the dial with the canted nave at the top and the upper balcony at the bottom, it is remarkably similar in design to looking at a Swiss Chalet type cuckoo clock pattern. The dial is surrounded by blind pierced architectural style fretwork. The round dial has a brown hued Gothic roman hour chapter ring (The white numerals are in the Germanic Gothic form) and in addition the edge of the round chapter ring has teeth much like a clock gear. There are two winding arbors for the time side and the strike side, both powered by springs. The central canon pipe that held the clock hands is precisely where it should be but has no hands. The movement has some significance in terms of value. You state - “Does not work but being handmade does not have to have specific works.” Generally, when such finely chip-carved pieces such as the one you own were made in America, they would usually contain a time and strike movement made by one of the great American clock companies from Connecticut: Seth Thomas, New Haven, Ansonia, Ingraham, EN Welch, Waterbury or Gilbert clock Companies. That may be what is behind the dial but since I cannot see it, I cannot identify it. If the case were carved in Germany, I would expect some type of German movement inside the case. So, the movement does have value and it is much better to have the original movement inside the cathedral since it would be a purer antique rather than a marriage of parts. Overall, the value of the carving is the main factor in determining price, but having the original movement would push the price upwards.
MOVEMENT: New photos include the actual movement inside this case. the movement is a lyre shaped fenestrated brass plate movement made by the Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomaston, Connecticut, fully signed with name and location and with their logo. It is called Seth Thomas movement number 42 and the Tran Du Ly text on Seth Thomas clocks said it was listed in both the 1907 and 1901 catalogs, one slightly smaller than the other. I am not certain which version this is but it is powered by two steel springs and has a 5 & 7/8th cm pendulum rod and lead bob. Added to the movement is a wire which controls the small metal spicule cylinder type music box just below the bell of the movement. This is an eight day time and half hour and hourly bell striking movement. (The movement is quite dirty and needs either a full overhaul or thorough cleaning to get it running. However, the time period coincides with when Henry Orth completed his carving of this wonderful clock. Rarely do we find a signed and dated example of german-american folk art. )
SHELF: Scalloped edge wall hung shelf, ornamented with a plethora of open pierced chip carved wooden fretwork, intricately carved and containing approximately twenty layers adjacent to each other, and matching the carvings in the Cathedral Tramp Art Clock. An extraordinary carved shelf for the Cathedral clock.
CONDITION: I will use your description – “has top of center scroll work at top - chipped off in moving - needs to be glued back - one tiny piece of “railing” missing. Comes with large scrolled shelf that is very fragile and has a few “scrolls” broken - a couple still with it and maybe a couple missing.” As far as the wood, most of the carving is done using a soft wood such as from pine crates or cigar boxes with a mahogany stain. If the box below the structure is a music box, that part is mahogany and is not a true part of the tramp art since it is factory made. However, this is one of the most complete and nicest examples that I have seen and it is much more complex in its tiny carvings than most that I have seen. The few small broken pieces need repair, which should not be terribly difficult for any woodcarver to do for you.
MODERN SCHOLARSHIP ABOUT TRAMP ART: (Taken from Clifford and Nancy Wallach, trampart.com)
Tramp art was a democratic art form made around the world wherever the raw materials, (mostly cigar boxes and shipping crates), used in its construction were found. In the United States there were over 50 different ethnic groups documented making it. It appealed to men who might have made an important body of work such as ‘Sunflower’ artist John Zubersky or the wonderfully expressive wall pockets by John Zadzora but also to men who might have made one piece in their lifetime. It was easy to make and appealed to anyone who had a desire to take a pocket knife to wood.
We have uncovered hundreds of men, some women, and even children who made historical tramp art. Tramp art was mostly made in home-based settings and by men who were factory workers, farmers, and labored in just about every conceivable occupation. There were tramps or hoboes who made the art form but not in the numbers the name suggests. The name tramp art was a contemporary invention and had nothing to do with the art form as a whole.
As I said Tramp art is an important art movement maybe not yet comparable to other important art movements throughout our culture but it is a testament to the ability of the common man untrained in the arts to produce objects of immense artistic integrity. Their movement was one of the first to use discarded materials to make objects of art as well as utilitarian objects for everyday use.
COMPARABLES:
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/64070035_tramp-art (sold for $350 in 2018)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/68572312_tramp-art-gothic-clock-architectural-model (Sold for $150 in 2019)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/93154169_tramp-art-gothic-clock (Sold for $200 in 2020)
**~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/museum-worthy-tramp-art-clock-tower-FjhEj_SnP7 (Sold for $3750 in 2018 and the structure is made like a museum with pictures sculpture and lighting in the interior.
**~https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/3307M/lots/315 extraordinary and rare tramp art clock with automata sold for $7380 in 2019)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/tramp-art-clock-in-case-EXknW_ip4y (sold for $375 in 2015 and is most reminiscent of the style of your example although less detailed and no shelf present)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/unusual-tramp-art-cuckoo-clock-c8J380EluR (sold for $150 in 2015)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/german-clock-music-box-11-x-14-Wyz0jFjnnh (German made and sold in 2019 for $50)
PRICING:
Your example is in the more traditional Gothic Cathedral style and not in the rarity of the two clocks selling in the thousands of dollars above **. However, yours appears to be a better example than just about all of the others, especially with the addition of the music box (although I do not know if that was present when the original carving took place or not. The presence of the shelf is rather rare, and difficult to find with other examples. Now that we have seen the inside of the case, the date and pencil signature of the carver and even know about his German ancestry and the original Seth thomas movement, I believe the value place on this clock has to be revalued upwards. How often do we see a Tramp art clock signed, dated and authenticated in such wonder condition. Almost never!
I believe if offered for sale, as is, despite the few breaks and the missing hands, your example would have a fair market value in the range of $2000-$2500.
Retail pricing would be about twice that amount, most likely in the range of $$4000-$5000, if you purchased this from a dealer. Thank you for sharing all of the parts and your research with me.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for your appraisal and best of luck selling your example.
My best,
David
p.s. - you can alter the asking price up and down. The price provided is only a suggestion.