Hello Jeannie,
Thank you for sending in your mantel clock to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that this evening.
TITLE:
Walnut stained oak, dual spring, eight day time and hour/half hour striking, bracket mantel clock, made by Junghans Gebreuder, A.G., Schramberg, Black Forest, Wuerttemberg, Germany, circa 1906.
DESCRIPTION:
Case – 15 inches tall 12 inches wide 7 inches deep, walnut stained German bracket mantel clock with a neoclassical triangular pediment with concave stepped moulding enclosing the carved tympanum carved with nine sun rays emanating from a core representing the sun. Just below on the façade of the case is a horizontal egg and dart carved frieze. Just below is the square beveled glass dial door with the side frames of the door having flat fluted pilasters. All open as a single unit. Another horizontal frieze, this time of six volutes, is flanked by applied pyramidal blocks set below the pilasters. The base has four sections: a narrow concave moulding over an egg and dart frieze, above a short single stepped moulding over the broad flat stained oak base with its straight bracket feet. The back of the case is patinated and flat with a square hinged door with simple circular pull to provide access to the movement compartment. The side of the case are not shown and assumed solid. The back feet are dovetailed into the case.
Dial – A square brass alloy dial plate sits perfectly within the oak dial mat, seen best with the door open. There is a silvered Roman hour chapter ring screwed to the dial plate @ 3, 6, 9 & 12. There is a closed bar minute track to the outside of the hours, a gilt metal dial center with two winding apertures for the two movement springs. There are steel fenestrated “Simple Roman” hands made in the Teutonic manner. {On French dials the ‘Simple Roman’ hour hand, invented by the French, has its barbs curled backwards pointing towards the dial center, while the German version of these hands reveals that the barbs on the hour hand curl forward towards the point of the hand and towards the outside of the dial.}There are applied Dore bronze heart shaped spandrels with foliate surround. The heart shape is made by combining two Chippendale style ‘C’ scrolls. Dial is unsigned.
Movement – This is a rectangular solid brass plate movement with pillars at the corners connecting the front and rear plates which secured with screws and nuts at the back plate. (The use of screws and nuts starts post 1900. Before that, they were pinned at the back plate with cotter pins.) This is a fairly typical German movement with the pendulum hanging from the upper back plate with a pendulum bridge having rounded ends screwed to the back plate (The German tended to use rounded pendulum suspension bridges, not angular or right angled bridges like the English). The movement sits on its original wooden seatboard. The back plate carries the logo of Junghans first registered in 2894 and re-registered in 1928. Just below one sees, “B06”, indicating this movement was made in the second half of 1906. The numeral 151 at the upper left side of the back plate is either the length of the movement in millimeters or the length of the pendulum in millimeters. Although not seen in these photos this movement had an anchor recoil escapement, and was powered by two steel springs of eight day duration and striking the Junghans trademarked coiled metal gong on the hour an half hour while a short pendulum swings at the back of the movement after passing through a flat brass fork like ‘crutch’. The logo on the gong base was registered twice in 1920 and again in 1924 but was used for a number of years prior to registration.
CONDITION:
Case – In very good used condition with no major alterations, restorations or breaks. The case has a pleasant symmetry to it and fits together in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Dial – Fair to Good with some oxidative changes to the surface of the dial plate and moderate amount of oxidative patchy darkening and speckles on the silvered hour chapter ring. Hands are original. The screws may have been added at a later date since when originally made they tend not to be visible, as they are here.
Movement – In good condition and assumed it will function as is or with a cleaning.
Commentary – This type of bracket clock was made to copy the English bracket clocks of the early 20th century and exported to England where they sold at a lesser price point and were made every bit as well as the British examples. The key being used to wind the clock was not a Junghans product but obviously works. Perhaps the initials on the key, possibly a ”GB”, were from a major competitor of those years the Gustav Becker Clock Company located in the Black Forest not far from Junghans.
JUNGHANS HISTORY:
Erhard Junghans established his clock factory in the Black Forest region of southeastern Germany in 1861 with his partner Jacob Zeller. He was one of the great innovators in terms of utilizing mass production factory methods. He was a pioneer who helped to change the Black Forest clock industry from a cottage industry into an American style example by the factory use of interchangeable parts. The name of Junghans has undergone numerous changes over the years and into the modern era. I was able to count 50 different trademarks used by the firm since 1861. The worked closely with firms in Germany, the United Kingdom and in America. Much of their output after 1900 was for use in England and America, probably in greater numbers than the sale of their clocks at home.
"United Freiburg Clock Factories A.G.", was formerly Gustav Becker. This firm used the Becker name as Becker A.G. and continued successfully until 1926, when it was taken over by Junghans.
Hans Winterhalder founded a company called HAWINA Clock Company with 800 employees devoted purely to the exportation of Winterhalder clocks to England, Russia and America during the first decade of the 20th century. Hawina was eventually sold to the giant German clock firm of Junghans in 1925.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/85454063_clock-junghans-bracket-clock-made-in-germany-c1900 (SOLD IN 2020 FOR $175)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/84059908_junghans-german-walnut-bracket-clock (Walnut Junghans bracket clock sold in 2020 for $100)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/78482022_an-early-20th-century-walnut-chiming-bracket-clock (Quarterly chiming Junghans with similar design sold in 2019 for 110 GB Pounds = $145)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/90444257_antique-junghans-chiming-bracket-clock (Sold for 4150 in 2020)
PRICING:
The pricing in today’s market is remarkably consistent for Junghans examples that remain in very good condition, as is your example. The fair market value of your clock should be in the range of $100-$125, with retail prices about twice that. I hope this in-depth explanation helps you to better understand your fine mantel clock. To me, this entire group of German made mantel clocks from the first quarter of the 20th century are all underpriced and may see a comeback in the not too distant future.
Thank you for using mearto.com for your appraisal.
I hope you continue to enjoy this fine antique clock now over a century old.
My best,
David