SETH THOMAS OGEE CLOCK
INDEX # : 185-C-1206

circa: 1863-1875

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CLOCK STYLE Ogee
CLOCK NAME N/A
MANUFACTURE Seth Thomas Clock Company, Thomaston, Ct. USA
CASE MODEL # N/A
MOVEMENT TYPE

Brass, 30 hour, weight driven.  Movement is stamped "S.THOMAS / PLYMOUTH, Conn. / U.S.A. / 11", type 1.242, 42 Tooth Escape wheel.

The top image is the movement as it was when we acquired the clock.

The middle image shows a repair that a previous owner had done to the escape wheel bridge.  It appears they tried to make a new bushing out of solder.  This will be removed and bridge will be properly re-bushed.

The bottom image is the movement after restoration.

CASE SIZE & CONSTRUCTION Base= 15 1/4", Height= 25 1/4", Depth= 4 1/4"

Pine case covered with Walnut veneers.

LABEL INFORMATION

Label in good condition.  "Seth Thomas, / Thomaston, Conn., U.S.A.  / Warranted Good"

Unable to determine label printer.

DIAL INFORMATION

Original hand painted Zinc dial with ST logo and Roman letters.  The dial is 8 3/8" X 8 3/8", and has a 7 1/2" chapter ring.  There is a  repairman's note on the back stating "Brunings / adjust / 8-17-98"

The dial glass, which is appears to have been replaced, is 8" X 8" and is held in place with the original wooden strips.

MISC. FEATURES

The original reverse painted tablet has a gold decal of a Great Dane chasing a Swan.  There is some paint loss to the black backing and the red ring around the image.  The tablet is 8" X 10", and is held  in place with the original wooden strips.  The back of the tablet has a hand written repairmen's note stating "8  A.M." The clock also has it's original winding key, hands, and weights.  There is paint loss to the red ring around the image, and it appears a previous owner scraped off the black backing below the image to allow for the pendulum bob to be viewed.  These area's will be restored by K.L.

 

The top image is the tablet as it was when the clock was acquired.

The 2cd image is a close up of the Great Dane chasing the goose.

The 3rd image is the back of the tablet, where a previous repairman marked his initials in pencil.  A slight reflection can be seen on the image which occurred when taking the photo.  The background is solid black.

The bottom image is the tablet after K.L. repaired the red border and filled in the area below the image.

 

ACQUIRED FROM Online auction
CONDITION WHEN ACQUIRED

Not running, case and reverse painted tablet in fair to good condition.  The movement has had some repairs that will need to be undone to restore it to original condition.  The movement is very dirty and will need to be torn down, repaired, and cleaned before it will function.
RESTORATION 03/07 - Tore movement down and cleaned in the Ultra-Sonic cleaner.  Several pivot holes had been punched to close up the holes, and the escape wheel bridge had been buggered up with solder in an attempt to close the area around the pivot.  I removed all of the poor repair efforts, and re-bushed the movement properly.   Reassembled movement, cleaned clock case and set clock to running. 

I added a sheet of clear Dura-Lar restoration film over the label to protect and preserve it.

05/07 - K.L. restored the tablet by applying red oil paint to border surrounding the dog image, and also filled in the missing black backing that had been scraped off.

10/09 - Cleaned, oiled and adjusted movement, set clock to running.

HISTORICAL DATA

Seth Thomas's Case Factory c. 1885 in Thomaston, Conn.

Seth Thomas (1785-1859) apprenticed to Eli Terry. He along with Silas Hoadley worked for Terry from around 1807-1810 making wood tall case movements. This was the point in history were the mass production of clock movements started. Terry contracted to make 4,000 movements in three years, a feat which had never been accomplished before. Terry had introduced a method of using interchangeable parts to make these movements, an idea he had gotten from Eli Whitney. After the contract was fulfilled, he sold the business to Thomas and Hoadley who continued manufacturing the wood tall case movements. Thomas eventually bought out Hoadley's interest in the business, and began producing shelf clocks with Eli Terry's patented wood 30 hour shelf clock movement. Seth Thomas had an elaborate career making wood and brass movement shelf clocks, and his company became the most well known name in the clock business. In 1853 his company became the Seth Thomas Clock Co., and operated under this name until 1931 when it became a division of General Time Instrument Co. (Seth Thomas's Great Grandson was chairman of the board until he died in 1932). In 1949, The company became a division of General Time Corp. In 1970, became a division of Tally Industries, who still produces clocks with the Seth Thomas Trademark. The town of Plymouth Hollow, Conn. changed it's name to Thomaston in 1866 to honor the clock maker.

Believe this clock was produced around 1863 or earlier due to "Seth Thomas Plymouth, Conn. USA." stamp on the dial plates. This was probably a left over movement from before the Plymouth to Thomaston name change.
REFERENCES 1. "Seth Thomas Clocks and Movements" by Tran Duy Ly, 1996, page 269
2.  NAWCC Bulletin #221, December 1982 - "Noble Jerome Patent 30-HR. Brass Weight Movements", Snowden Taylor
NOTES Purchased this clock for K.L. for Christmas 2006.  Since she is a big dog fanatic, the tablet on this clock was right up her ally.

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