Hello Kristen,
Thank you for sending in your mantel clock to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Mahogany laminate and basswood, dual steel spring, eight day time and hour/half hour cathedral gong striking, tambour mantel clock, ‘Hermes’ model- a part of the Hollywood assortment of Ingram tambour clocks
Cond, made by the Ingraham Clock Company, Bristol Connecticut, circa 1930s.
DESCRIPTION:
Case: 22” long and 9.75” high (you list this size as being 13” x 12” which it can’t be from simply looking at the case), Napoleon-Hat shape or tambour mantel clock. This Hermes model is made with mahogany laminates throughout except for the base which is made of basswood. The dial is centered in a dome shaped case with sloping concave sides which terminate in full depth blocks at each end, the blocks with canted tops. Below the glazed brass dial bezel on the case is a geometric formation of light colored mahogany veneer which adds balance to this case. The dark basswood shaped base molding rests on wooden button feet. A door at the back of the case is missing (it had the label pasted on the inside of the model and the directions for setting up the clock).
Dial: This is a round silvered enameled dial with upright Arabic hours, open bar minute ring with triangles placed every five minutes, skeletonized steel “lozenge” hands, a Brocot aperture over the twelve for making the movement faster or slower and the dial is signed “Ingraham” in script and at the base, “Made in Bristol, USA”.
Movement: A rectilinear fenestrated brass plate movement with the corner posts connecting the two plates and secured with nuts and bolts. There is an anchor recoil escapement, butterfly wheel and two steel coiled springs which power the movement for eight days and cause striking on the coiled Cathedral gong every hour and half hour. Movement is unsigned.
CONDITION:
Case – Scuffs and scrapes to the top and base of the case, which also has lost its back door as well as its paper label.
Dial – This is the major defect in this clock since it is not from a Hermes Model. The Hermes was made with applied gilt brass Arabic hours, not black enameled numbers. On the Hermes dial the name Ingraham was printed rather than in script. The Hermes was also marked eight days. The hands were steel and ornate Chippendale style, not these Art Deco Lozenge hands (they are very nice). Therefore, although this dial is made by the same Ingraham Company and is in very good condition, and has Art Deco hands, none are original to this Hermes case.
Movement – This movement is not the one used for the Ingraham Hermes example. The original movement had the escape wheel in the upper left hand corner of the back plate, positioned outside the plate so it was easily visible.
Also, the Hermes movement did not strike on a coiled gong. It struck using duplex chime rods, striking the hour on two chime rods and the half hour on one rod. The condition of the present movement is not good and the Cathedral gong is rusted.
See the following photos on EBay of another example of one of the Hollywood series models with a movement precisely the same as the Hermes model and note the escape wheel on the outside of the plates and the presence of two rod chimes.
COMPARABLES:
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/22244355_ingraham-eight-day-double-chime-tambour-mantle-clock
Here is an example of the HERA model, a sibling to both the HEERMES sand the third model from the Hollywood series the HATHOR. It sold recently on EBay for $40 –
~https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ingraham-Bristol-Conn-tambour-Mantle-shelf-clock-model-HERA-Duplex-/114382457092?hash=item1aa1b9c904%3Ag%3AM%7EkAAOSwO9Ve9844&nma=true&si=BdymdEzn86lsw1N7xAnSRQempyg%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/44250479_antique-ingraham-tambour-mantle-clock-22-long (Not part of the Hollywood series of case models this clock sold for $30)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/13907640_43e-ingraham-eight-day-tambour-clock-duplex-330-195 (This is part of the Hollywood case series and sold for $45)
CONCLUSION:
Somewhere along the way in the past history of this clock, one of the best tambour cases that Ingraham made, someone who knew how to repair clocks married the Hermes case to a lesser unsigned movement and dial. The dial needed to be 7” in diameter, a common size for Ingraham, and he then married the dial/movement to this finer case. Even the Hermes model in good condition with every part original would only get to $50 in an auction today, this tells you the price range of the clock you are showing me today. I am sorry to have to tell you this but the fair market value of your example would be in the $25-$30 range, due specifically to the alterations. However, from just a decorative art and aesthetic perspective this remains a handsome mantel clock, but handsome doesn’t cut it on the clock market which prizes originality. This is one area where a marriage will never be good!
I thank you again for choosing mearto.com for you appraisal. At least, you now know the truth about this clock. Today, truth is a rare commodity and it’s what one needs to know.
Stay safe.
My best,
David