Hello Lynne,
Thank you for sending in your tallcase clock to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Cherrywood, two weight, eight day time and hourly striking tall case clock, made by Charles Cooper (1785-1835), Market Square, Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania,
Made circa 1822-1825.
DESCRIPTION:
PROVENANCE – The tallcase clock was purchased by Foxfire Antiques from the Helen Eicherly Estate in Mt. Joy, Pa. in 1989.Helen was a step great grand-daughter of Harry Lentz in whose family this clock had descended. Harry lived in Jonestown, Pat, Lebanon County. . .
CASE – 94” cherrywood tallcase clock. The hood with its broken-arch round molded pediment has rosette-carved arch terminals and they are surmounted by three finials resting on cherry fluted plinths. There are urn and spire finials to both sides and a central ‘acorn’ (replaced) finial in the center just above a fluted and carved keystone. An arched cornice sits above the arched glazed dial door with its four wooden volutes in the corners of the frame (added later), has two rococo ornamental brass hinges and key escutcheon with brass pull above the escutcheon. The dial door is flanked by turned and ringed tapered delicate colonnettes while two more are seen at the rear of the hood. The sides of the hood have astragal glazed side-lights. A concave molding transitions down to the trunk with its full length shaped door. The upper part of the door has a shield shaped design with two Baroque shaped brass ornamental external hinges, brass key escutcheon and the door is flanked by multi-ringed case corners. A second concave molding leads down to the rectilinear cherry base with inset concentric wooden panels on the façade and on both sides of the base. The feet are not shown but should be Pennsylvania elongated Bun feet. The interior of the trunk with the door open reveals the horizontal placed panels of the backboard, typical of cabinetmaking in Lebanon and parts of Lancaster County as well. . .
DIAL – An arched painted iron dial with Roman hours, open dotted minute ring with Arabic minute markers placed every fifteen minutes at the quarters. The dial center has a circular continuous second’s dial under the twelve and a circular calendar dial over the six. The script name and place of the clockmaker, Charles Cooper and Lebanon are seen in the dial center. The steel Spade hands are replacements and most likely should be matching diamond shaped of brass fenestrated ornate matching hands. The corner spandrels are of colorful conch shells. The lunette has a rotating moon dial with two hemisphere transfer printed maps done in the style of William Jones of Philadelphia, working circa 1822-1840 The conch shells, painted by Jones were quite stylized as they are found here. This all appears to be the work of William Jones, the Philadelphia dial painter, who learned English dial painting methods from an older clockmaker who shared his dwelling. . .
MOVEMENT – Not shown but assumed to be a solid brass plate movement with brass pillars, anchor escapement, steel cut pinions, steel arbors, grooved or smooth winding drums powered by two weights, of eight day duration and striking an overhead bell on the hour by used of a rack and snail striking mechanism. There is a long pendulum rod and round bob swinging behind the movement inside the case. . . .
CONDITION:
Case – Genuine and for the most part original are the three major components of the clock: case, dial and movement. The case has been refinished and has a fine cherry colored tone. The central finial is a replacement. The wooden volutes on the dial door were added later, perhaps to cover reinforcing nails, but were not original to the clock case. The case is otherwise in excellent condition. The feet are the elongated Pennsylvania bun feet which are the least desirable form, a mild hurt to value. . .
Dial – The dating of the clock is mainly from the dial. I believe it is a Philadelphia dial painted by William Jones whose working years were from 1822-1840. The hands on the dial are later replacements. There was some flaking and repainting of white areas in the lower part of the dial. There has also been some deterioration in both the maps and the revolving moon dial from what I can see in these photos, but nothing terrible and they remain original to this dial. The dial is original to this case. The dial fits the wooden dial mat (inside the door) perfectly and the marks on the backboard inside the case have been made only by the one original pendulum and bob. . .
Movement – Considered original and fully functional.
HISTORY:
Lebanon County was formed from parts of Dauphin and Lancaster counties and drew its name from Lebanon Township. Lebanon County was first organized in 1813. Charles Cooper (1785-1835) had a retail “FANCY GOOD’ OR ‘JEWELRY’ shop on Market Square in the town of Lebanon, and the way he made his clock movements showed that he was a meticulous worker. It is thought that he made clocks from circa 1805 and into the 1820s. His early clocks were often four handers (minute, hour, sweep seconds and sweep calendar hand), later he used a seconds and calendar ring in his clock movements (such as yours) and toward the end of his career his clocks were housed in ‘castle top’ cases with four matching finials across the front of the pediment.
PRICING:
Two decades ago this signed Lebanon clock would have bought $20,000+ at a good auction. Today the price of tallcase clocks has dropped significantly, especially those made in Pennsylvania. So, in today’s marketplace, if this clock were put up for auction, considering it to be fully genuine except for a few minor items, I believe it would sell in a fair market range of $11,500-$13,500. A retailer would ask a price perhaps another 25-30% higher. . .
CONCLUSION:
Lebanon County was formed from parts of Dauphin and Lancaster counties and drew its name from Lebanon Township, Lebanon County was first organized in 1813. Charles Cooper (1785-1835) had a retail shop on Market square in the town of Lebanon, and the way he made his clock movement shows that he was a meticulous worker. It is thought that he made clocks from circa 1805 and into the 1820s. His early clocks were often four handers (minute, hour, sweep seconds and sweep calendar hand), later he used a seconds and calendar ring in his clock movements (as yours) and toward the end his clocks were housed in castle top cases with four matching finials across the front of the pediment.
I hope this has been of some help to your understanding of the clock itself and its place in the auction market today.
My Best,
David