Hello Jeanine,
Thank you for sending in this most interesting Hall clock to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that tonight.
TITLE:
Mahogany, five tubular bells, three brass weights, eight-day time, hourly striking and quarterly chiming Hall clock (modern name for the grandfather clock), Unsigned, attributed to Charles Jacques {see History} working for the wholesaler/merchandiser/seller, Borgfeldt & Company{see History}, New York City circa 1920s.
PROVENANCE:
“Remember it at my great grandfather's house in 1950. Inherited by my mother and now me. It ran well until 1980's when it was not wound or run since then.”
DESCRIPTION:
Case: 77.5” in height, 22”-25.5” width, 13.75” depth. A solid mahogany standing floor clock, better known as a Hall clock. The case appears to be American made (I can see why you thought it was a Waltham) and takes a classic American Hall clock case form made by several furniture companies in the USA. There is a caddy top with a break-arch concave molded pediment (called a break-arch pediment because the rounded arch is broken on either side by the right-angled shoulders of the pediment). Below the arched cornice of the pediment is the arched glazed full-length dial door with the glass absent but would have covered the dial and run the full length of the door. The door is flanked by fully rounded mahogany columns also extending the length of the door. The sides of the case are glazed. Below the door is a short mahogany horizontal rectangular base with the flat side pilasters set forward and resting on suppressed ball mahogany feet.
Dial: The round 10.5” diameter metal dial has a brass bezel, applied brass Arabic hour chapter ring in round cartouche form, scalloped foliate half hour markings (part of the cartouche design), closed minute track to the outside, the dial center with an arched pinned brass plaque above the six (blank in this example, usually reserved for a retailer name or the name ‘Jacques’), subsidiary seconds dial under the twelve, steel rococo fenestrated Chippendale-style hands and three winding apertures for the time, strike and chiming functions. The levers noted at the sides of the dial are: @9 the ‘silent/hourly strike’ feature and @3 the ‘chime/silent’ feature lever.
**N.B.-The dial is unsigned, but the dial layout is the key to the proper diagnosis for who made this clock. Of note, is the fact that the three weight winding apertures are almost in a straight line, from left to right, one aperture is at the top of the eight, the center aperture is just above the empty name plaque over the six, and the third is at the top of the four, close to being in a horizontal line with the center aperture slight lower. That was the single most important clue to proper identification. Few dials have the three apertures lines up in this manner but this precise dial is listed under ‘Borgfeldt & Company’ in the text, “Longcase Clocks and Standing Regulators, Part 1, Machine Made Clocks” by Tran Duy-Ly, page 48, figure 113-T.
Movement: Not shown but would be a heavy rectilinear solid brass plate movement with the front and rear plates connected by tubular brass pillars at the corners of the plates and screwed together at the rear plate. There is an anchor escapement, steel cut pinions, grooved winding drums to take up the weight cords, a long metal pendulum rod hangs from the rear plate with large brass covered bob and swings in front of the five nickel-plated brass tubular chimes. The movement is powered by the descent of the three polished brass canister weights which drive the clock for eight days, causes hourly striking and quarterly chiming on the set of five tubes. The strike and chiming functions can be silenced using the levers on the dial face @3 and @9.
CONDITION:
Case – Nicks, scuffs and rubs to the case especially around the base as one would expect on any grandfather clock. The door glass is gone.
Dial: Patina of the metal dial has darkened, but it remains in good original condition. Darkening is from oxidation of the metals over these past one hundred years.
Movement: Not shown but assumed genuine and original to this case. From the client “All mechanisms seem okay but strings to tube hammers are broken. One of the metal weight gear wires appear to be wound out of "sync".... so therefore we did not attempt to wind and run it”. Clock is in need of repair and movement overhaul to get it back in sync and running. If you check online there are several clock repair places near New Bedford, Ma.
~Here is an example of your clock in the Brown University library. They date it to 1880 but that is mis-dated. All auctioneers and dealers prefer to call this a Charles Jacques Hall clock, but he worked for other companies for MOST of his working life. SEE:
https://library.brown.edu/cds/clocks/renderclock.php?xmlfile=jacques.xml
~Also see if you can find a clock repair person to make a house call. There are numerous clock repair shops in your area of Massachusetts. Gt more than one opinion about price.
See: https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&safe=active&sxsrf=ALeKk03N_5dVyUsno8GOjvFrmV278BnwhA:1604627946886&q=clock+repair+new+bedford+ma&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=41835624,-70976293,26457&tbm=lcl&ved=2ahUKEwiM-ZT26OzsAhUId98KHRJ8CIMQtgN6BAgLEAc&rldoc=1#rlfi=hd:;si:;mv:[[42.169810272783614,-69.89535987046357],[40.984350064113265,-72.96054541733857],null,[41.57980020901571,-71.42795264390107],9]
HISTORY:
Jacques, Charles -
Charles Jacques working in NYC by 1890.
1891: Charles Jacques & Company (added Henry Davis to the firm)
1894: Charles Jacques Clock Company, importers of English Elliot Hall clocks @Cortland Street. (Henry Davis leaves)
1895-1911: Jacques is working for Bawo and Dotter managing the hall clock movement department and now importing German movements.
1915: Charles Jacques again on his own in NYC known simply as "Jacques". at 119 East 16th Street.
1916: works in the movement department of George Borgfeldt & company and Jacques created numerous patents and made movements using up to as many as sixteen tubes.
George Borgfeldt & Company -
Established importer and merchandiser of clocks in New York City circa 1910-c. 1929.
1915-Hred Charles Jacques to head their movement department and sold the Charles Jacques line of chiming Hall clocks which included the musical bells created and manufactured by Jacques himself.
COMPARABLES:
http://antiqueamericanclocks.com/Completed_auctions/2020/Jan20/Jan20_Auction_Catalog.pdf (lot 42 sold for $1500)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/70268952_stunning-tall-case-jacques-6tube-grandfather-clock (sold in 2019 for $1200)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/23559388_jacques-mahogany-6-tube-grandfather-clock (sold in 2014 for $1300)
PRICING:
In perfect condition and running, this hall clock would bring at auction a price in the range of $1250-$1500. In your situation you have to deduct the cost of fixing the glass and the movement, so in its current condition, I would place the fair market value of your hall clock in the $800-$1000 range. These were very fine clocks when put into production and had good form and proportion with a fine mahogany case and finely made movement and chimes. When the clock is ‘properly’ restored and in running condition the value would be in the $1250-$1500 range.
I hope this helps you with the ‘who, what and when’ of your clock. I am quite certain that the origin I described above is right on target. Your guess about Waltham was a good one because they did make similar cases but if you look at the winding apertures on their round dials they do not conform to your dial.
It was my pleasure to help you figure out this family heirloom puzzle and try to diagnose it correctly.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com.
My best,
David