3/4 SIZE BREWSTER & INGRAHAMS, BRISTOL, CT. STEEPLE OR SHARP GOTHIC SHELF CLOCK MADE ca.1846
 
ELISHA C. BREWSTER & CO. MADE THE MOVEMENTS AND BROTHERS ELIAS AND ANDREW INGRAHAM MADE THE CASES TO PRODUCE FINISHED CLOCKS BY BREWSTER & INGRAHAMS

BEAUTIFUL AND NEAR PERFECT BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD COVERED CASE

VERY UNUSUAL SOLID ROSEWOOD 'CROSS' FINIALS

CLOCK IS SIGNED 'BREWSTER & INGRAHAMS' IN 3 DIFFERENT PLACES:  INSIDE LABEL, ON THE DIAL AND ON THE MOVEMENT FRONT PLATE (SEE PHOTOS)

LABEL IS COMPLETE WITH SOME STAINING LOWER RIGHT

ORIGINAL DIAL SHOWS SMALL AMOUNT OF PAINT LOSS ON LOWER EDGE AND AROUND GROMMETS

30-HR. MODIFIED CHARLES KIRK STYLE MOVEMENT WAS SERVICED SEVERAL YEARS AGO AND IS RUNNING FINE (I JUST RE-OILED THE PIVOTS)

PATRIOTIC (EAGLE WITH SHIELD AND 'E PLURIBUS UNUM' BANNER) ENGRAVED, REVERSE DECORATED LOWER GLASS IS ORIGINAL AND DOES SHOW SOME LOSS

BOTH HANDS ARE ORIGINAL

AS FAR AS I KNOW 3/4 SIZE STEEPLE CLOCKS WERE ONLY MADE BY BREWSTER & INGRAHAMS OF BRISTOL, CT SOMETIME IN THE TIME PERIOD OF APPROXIMATELY 1846 TO 1850.  NO OTHER CLOCK MANUFACTURER MADE THIS STYLE OF STEEPLE CLOCK.  ELIAS INGRAHAM MOST LIKELY DESIGNED THE STEEPLE OR SHARP GOTHIC CLOCK CASE WHILE ELISHA BREWSTER PROVIDED MOVEMENTS INITIALLY INVENTED BY CHARLES KIRK WHO WAS A JOINT JUNIOR PARTNER AND FOREMAN IN E. C. BREWSTER & CO.  THESE CLOCKS ARE APPROXIMATELY 1 TO 1-1/2 INCHES LESS IN WIDTH THAN THE MORE COMMON FULL SIZED STEEPLE CLOCKS MADE BY A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS.  OFTEN THE HEIGHT IS REDUCED BY AN INCH OR SO ALSO.  THE EFFECT IS MOST EVIDENT WHEN VIEWING THESE CLOCKS FROM THE FRONT AS ALL THE FRONT COMPONENTS ARE SMALLER IN WIDTH THAN THOSE ON THE FULL SIZE STEEPLES.  ALL OF THE 3/4 STEEPLES I HAVE OBSERVED ARE BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD VENEERED LIKE THIS EXAMPLE.  ONLY THE CHOICEST VENEERS WERE USED FOR THESE CLOCKS (SEE THE CASE PHOTOS PROVIDED HERE).  3 STYLES OF CASES HAVE BEEN DOCUMENTED BASED ON THE STYLE OF FINIALS USED.  MOST EXAMPLES SHOW THE NORMAL, TAPERED EXAMPLES SIMILAR TO THOSE OBSERVED IN MANY OF THE FULL SIZED STEEPLE CLOCKS.  THESE ARE NORMALLY NARROWER, AND, THUS 'SLEEKER' THAN THE FULL SIZED EXAMPLES.  THE SECOND STYLE IS A DELICATELY TURNED FINIAL THAT HAS BEEN COATED WITH GESSO AND GOLD-LEAFED.  THESE CLOCKS ALSO HAVE SMALL BALL FEET THAT HAVE ALSO BEEN COVERED WITH GESSO AND GOLD LEAFED.  THE 3RD STYLE IS LIKE THAT SHOWN ON THIS CLOCK WITH THE 'CROSS' FINIALS.  BASED ON MY OBSERVATIONS THE'CROSS' FINIAL EXAMPLE IS THE LEAST COMMON OF THE THREE.  THE NEXT TO LAST PHOTO WAS TAKEN FROM THE COTTONE AUCTIONS WEBSITE WHERE BOTH A FULL SIZE AND 3/4 SIZE EXAMPLE WERE SOLD AT AN OCT. 22, 2004 AUCTION (LOTS 2, 3 & 4 ARE SHOWN IN THE PHOTO).  THE EXAMPLE IN THE MIDDLE IS A 3/4 STEEPLE OF STYLE #2 DESCRIBED ABOVE.  THE 3/4 SIZE EXAMPLES SOLD FOR LARGE SUMS OF BETWEEN APPROXIMATLEY 2 AND 3 THOUSAND DOLLARS EACH!  THESE PRICES WOULD BE UNREALISTIC TODAY EVEN IF THEY BOTH HAD ORIGINAL KIRK CAST IRON BACK PLATE MOVEMENTS IN THEM (I COULD NOT FIND A DESCRIPTION FOR THESE CLOCKS TO VERIFY THE STYLE OF MOVEMENT).

THE ONLY MOVEMENTS I HAVE SEEN IN THESE CLOCKS ARE 30-HR. CHARLES KIRK STYLE MOVEMENTS INVENTED BY KIRK ca.1843 (BUT USED IN THE 8-DAY AND 30-DAY VERSIONS SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE THE 1843 PATENT WHICH COVERED THE 8-DAY VERSION ONLY).  THESE MOVEMENTS, INITIALLY WITH BRASS SPRINGS AND CAST IRON BACK PLATES & SPRING BARRELS, EVOLVED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS TO THE POINT THAT THE CAST IRON BACK PLATES AND BARRELS WERE REPLACED WITH A STAMPED BRASS PLATE WITH NO BARRELS.  THE EVOLUTION OF BOTH THE 8-DAY AND 30-HR. KIRK MOVEMENTS IS NICELY DOCUMENTED IN THE BOOK TITLED THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JOSEPH IVES TO CONNECTICUT CLOCK TECHNOLOGY 1810-1862 BY KENNETH D. ROBERTS, CHAPTER X.  THE EVOLUTION OF THE 30-HR. MOVEMENT IS REPRODUCED FROM THE ABOVE BOOK IN THE LAST PHOTO.  THE MOVEMENT IN THIS CLOCK MATCHES THAT SHOWN IN THE THIRD/LAST VERSION. AS NOTED IN THE ABOVE BOOK WHEN THE CAST IRON BACK PLATE WAS ELIMINATED FOR THE 30-HR. MOVEMENT THERE WAS A SLIGHT CHANGE IN WHEEL AND PINION TEETH/LEAVES COUNT ON THE TIME SIDE WHILE THE STRIKE SIDE REMAINED UNCHANGED.  NOTE THAT ALL OF THESE MOVEMENTS WERE MADE ORIGINALLY WITH BRASS SPRINGS AS STEEL SPRINGS WERE STILL PROHIBITABLY EXPENSIVE.  THE MOVEMENT IN THIS CLOCK HAS THE ORIGINAL BRASS SPRING ON THE STRIKE SIDE WHILE THE TIME SIDE SPRING HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH A STEEL VERSION (MOST LIKELY DUE TO PRIOR BREAKAGE).  NOTE THAT BREWSTER LIKELY HAD PURCHASED THE KIRK PATENT BY 1843 WHEN THE PATENT WAS ISSUED (PATENT NO. 3233 ISSUED ON AUG. 26, 1843 AND TITLED 'CLOCK') AS KIRK LEFT BRISTOL IN THAT YEAR.  THE MOVEMENT MODIFICATIONS WERE LIKELY ALL MADE BY BREWSTER OR SOMEONE IN HIS EMPLOY (POSSIBLY ANSON L. ATWOOD AS NOTED IN THE ABOVE ROBERTS REFERENCE).  BREWSTER ALSO OWNED THE JOSEPH SHAYLOR IVES PATENT NO. 723 TITLED 'MODE OF APPLYING SPRINGS TO CLOCKS' ISSUED ON MAY 4, 1838 WHICH COVERED THE USE OF BRASS SPRINGS TO POWER CLOCKS.  THESE 2 PATENTS GAVE BREWSTER EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO MAKE THE FIRST CONVENTIONAL BRASS SPRING DRIVEN MOVEMENTS IN AMERICA.

3/4 STEEPLE CLOCKS ARE NOT VERY COMMON.  I FOUND ONLY A FEW EXAMPLES IN VARIOUS HOROLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS INCLUDING:  1. INGRAHAM CLOCKS & WATCHES BY TRAN DUY LY, FIG. 44; AMERICAN SHELF AND WALL CLOCKS BY ROBERT W. D. BALL, PAGES 89, 98, 105; HANDBOOK OF CLOCKS PRODUCED BY CHARLES KIRK, ELISHA BREWSTER AND BREWSTER & INGRAHAMS AT BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, 1828-1852 BY BILL ULTSCH AND DOUB COWAN, FIG. 63.  EXAMPLES WITH THE 'CROSS' FINIAL APPEAR TO BE REASONABLY RARE AS NONE ARE SHOWN IN ANY OF THESE PUBLICATIONS AND OTHERS THAT I EXAMINED.

EXCEPT FOR THE PARTIALLY WORN BOTTOM GLASS THE CLOCK IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.  (A COMPLETE COPY OF THE SAME GLASS CAN BE VIEWED IN A MINIATURE OG CLOCK SHOWN AS FIG. 76 IN TRAN DUY LY'S BOOK CITED ABOVE.  IT WAS MADE SOMETIME BETWEEN 1850 AND 1853.)  THE VENEERED CASE OF THIS CLOCK IS EXCELLENT.  I SUSPECT THE CASE WAS REFINISHED AT AN EARLIER DATE.  THE MOVEMENT IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION AND IS WORKING FINE.  I ADDED THE PERIOD PENDULUM AND CAST IRON KEY.  THE KEY FOR THE BRASS DOOR LATCH IS A REPRO AS IS THE ESCUTCHEON.  THE ACTUAL DOOR LATCH IS ORIGINAL. SEE PHOTOS FOR ALL DETAILS.  A NICE, REASONABLY RARE CLOCK THAT HAS SURVIVED NICELY AFTER 175 YEARS.

THE CLOCK WILL BE SHIPPED DOUBLE BOXED BY FEDEX.

THANKS FOR LOOKING!


On May-07-24 at 08:58:17 PDT, seller added the following information:

CLOCK DIMENSIONS:  18-7/8" H x 8-3/4" W x 3-1/4" D