Hello Ben,
Thank you for sending in this Howard wall clock for an appraisal to mearto.com. I shall try to help you with that this evening.
TITLE:
Walnut, reverse painted glass and brass, one weight, eight-day time only, figure-8 wall clock, model no. 10, made by the E. Howard Clock Company, Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1875-1885.
Provenance:
A paper tag inside the case suggests that the clock was first purchased circa 1870 (no name associated with it and the Howard name on the dial being in print, not script, suggests it was made a bit later), but the first ownership record reads, “J.J. Beals, 1898”. JJ Beals was a Massachusetts clock wholesaler/retailer who sold clocks, made by others, to the public. They often overpasted their own labels over the clockmaker’s label. Ownership passed to ‘FHM Stone’ circa 1901 and then apparently was sold back to the Howard Company in 1907. F.D. Bacon owned the clock from 1912 -1921 when he sold it to W.C. Garrat in 1921 and at an unspecified time to octogenarian R.P. Cushing. In “modern” times it came to be owned by a well-known collector in Brooklyn, NYC, Dr. Alfred Cossidente who sold it in December 1961, to another well-known collector, Irving Cooperman, who I believed lived in upstate New York. The auction of the clock collection of Irving Cooperman was sold in a major auction in 2001.
Ownership passed to Howard Neff Jr. Although, I do not know that name, eh is listed as a member of NAWCCand living in Bourne, Massachusetts which is on Cape Cod.
DESCRIPTION:
Case – 11” x 34” x 4.75” refinished and polished walnut, figure eight wall clock case surmounted by a shaped wooden finial centering an applied volute. A rounded and fluted glazed bezel forms the upper part of the door which then narrows into a concave sided walnut throat section enclosing a gilt on black glass with a central vertical aperture to view the arc of the gilded pendulum rod as it swings inside the case. The frame of the door continues down to the base section with a smaller circular fluted wooden bezel holding a red, gold and black reverse painted glass. A second smaller shaped piece of walnut with applied volute forms the pedestal below, and balances the similar but larger finial at the top of the case. The case has two large 5-knuckle, brass hinges on the right which supports the door when opened. When the door is opened, we can see that the dial glass is held in place by a circular wooden glue block which appears to be original. The throat glass is held in place by two rectilinear ebonized double-nailed glue blocks, also appearing to be original. The lower glass is held in place by an original block at the base of the glass and a replaced glue block at the top. Once a block is replaced one cannot tell from photos if the original glass remains. (These glasses were painted by machine, and one would have to look at the glasses carefully for thickness and waviness to be certain if all three are original parts of this clock, but all three are correct in their placement, mostly original glue blocks, styling and how they fit into the case.) The upper backboard has a central screw that holds the movement at the top of the case, two screw holes in the base for holding the clock steady on the wall, and a hole in the upper throat section meant for a screw to prevent the weight being overwound and being pulled up into the movement. (That screw appears to be missing.) Original black painted wooden weight baffle. The weight is engraved "5" which is correctly used in the figure-eight #10 model (the smallest of five sizes, i.e. 6-10) and the Howard banjo #5 (the smallest of five sizes, i.e. 1-5). The case is marked 11 which represents a part of an assembly line clock where all the number 11 parts are put together into the same clock. My experience tells me that the number ‘11’ can be found on the head of the case, the rear of the dial mounting board and the back of the weight baffle.
Dial: The round zinc, 8” diameter, painted dial is attached with four screws to the wooden dial surround, the latter screwed into the head of the case with four larger screws. (That is all correct). The white painted dial has a Roman hour chapter ring, closed minute track, steel Breguet-style hands, single winding aperture @10-minute marker and is marked in printed letters, “E. Howard & Co. Boston.”.
Movement: The rectangular solid brass, single weight driven movement has tubular corner pillars connecting the plates and pinned at the front plate. The Maker’s name can be found die-stamped on the front plate, and reads, “E. Howard & Co. Boston” with a ‘5’ below. Like the weight, the number five movement was used in the number five banjo and in the number 10 figure eight wall clock. The movement is designed with an anchor recoil escapement and is considered to be a very accurate time keeper for its small size. The pendulum rod is made of seasoned cherry and retains its original gilding. The pendulum bob is zinc. It is covered in brass for temperature compensation. The brass was decorated with a damascene design which is now worn away or the bob is replaced. The movement is in very good condition. The weight is cast iron and is original to this clock. This clock is designed to run for 8 days on a single winding and was made circa 1875-1885. The weight descends behind the baffle and the pendulum rod swings in front of the baffle and has a butterfly tie-down, typical of Howard wall clocks.
CONDITION/COMMENTARY:
The fine walnut case is in very nice condition with a cleaned-up surface. All three glasses may well be original and except for the lowest glass appears undisturbed. The two lower reverse painted glasses are excellent examples in this type of clock and are held in place by the original wood blocks and finishing nails, except for one glue block in the base section. The form and color scheme are typical Howard and the red is a nice bright vibrant shade. The reds came in different shades.
The dial appears clean and undisturbed with some wear to the printed signature. The script signature is earlier and a bit more desirable on such clocks. The movement is in very clean good condition with original iron weight and pendulum rod, but the brass bob is missing its damascening indicating it has been removed or the bob is a replacement.
I am impressed by the ownership in the provenance on this clock and although knowledge about clocks was not as accurate back in the 1950-1970 era, these were major collectors who tended to buy mostly correct examples of American clocks. Those names increase the value in my mind of this particular clock.
This clock has nothing at all to do with Howard Miller which you refer to. Howard Miller, son of German clockmaker Herman Miller, both made clocks in the 20th century.
HISTORY (Taken from the library of John Delaney Antique Clocks):
E. Howard & Company succeeded the Howard & Davis firm in 1857. The Howard and Davis firm was comprised of Edward Howard and David P. Davis and was established in 1842. Both men served their apprenticeship with Aaron Willard Jr of Boston. This firm was involved in watch and clock manufacturing since 1842. This firm also made high grade clocks, precision balances, sewing machines and fire engines. After the dissolution of Howard and Davis, Edward Howard went on to become Boston’s leading manufacture of weight driven clocks. This included residential clocks, commercial clocks and tower clocks. They also sold a large number of watchman and salve clock systems. These sold well in the late 1800’s. It has been said that the E. Howard Clock company never made an inexpensive clock and that everything they made was of very good quality. As a result, Howard clocks have become very collectible and are prized by their owners. Today, the E. Howard clock name enjoys outstanding name recognition.
The E. Howard Clock Company has an outstanding reputation for making high quality weight driven wall timepieces, standing regulators, public clocks and electro-mechanical master and watchman clocks.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/e-howard-no-10-figure-eight-wall-clock-109-c-a774823bce (very worn signature on dial, otherwise very fine condition and sold in 2020 for $3500)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/e-howard-no-9-figure-eight-wall-regulator-NpFYHSoyaC (sold for $6500 in 2017)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/e-howard-no-10-figure-8-wall-clock-qTvPBD2qj (sold for $3000 in 2017)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/e-howard-no-10-figure-eight-wall-clock-w_tH4cUFS3 (sold for $3250 in 2016)
PRICING:
Assuming all major parts are correct on this clock and as I described above, this example should sell in the range supported by the auction house of $5000-$7000. I personally believe that the names on the provenance list inside the case can push this clock to the higher end of its value range. So, I would rate the fair market value of this clock in the $6000-$7500 range. This would be a very difficult clock to buy without seeing it in person.
Hope this helps you to better understand this important clock. It is one of the truly beautiful, machine made American wall regulators.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for this appraisal and good luck with the auction.
My best,
David