Clock, Shelf

Object Name:

Clock, Shelf

Object ID:

1972.089.052

Creator:

Forbes & TuckerClockmaker

Place of Origin:

Concord, NH

Date:

1841

Description:

Shelf Clock. Made by Forbes & Tucker, Concord, NH; 1841. Materials: mahogany; tulip poplar (dial); secondary wood white pine and assorted hardwoods (movement). Vertically oriented rectangular door with two glazed panels, clear glass above and mirror below. Upper panel 9.75" in height, lower panel 13.75" Case with canted front corners, flared cornice and rectangular base. door fastened with brass catch. Square painted wooden dial, beneath upper glass panel, with roman hour numerals and pierced steel hour and minute hands matching in design. Painted gilt decoration partly in relief, including spandrel decoration and border around center of dial, both largely composed of teardrop-shaped elements and dots. Two winding holes with brass grommets below center of dial. Terry-type, 30-hour wooden movement with strike. Case veneered. Mirror backed with heavy paper. Three nail holes in backboard. Weight sheaves projecting through top of clock. Dial probably tulip poplar. Large printed label glued to inner surface of lower backboard, reading in part: "NEW CLOCK / FACTORY. / 'TIME FLIES' / IMPROVED / BRASS BUSHED / CLOCKS, / MANUFACTURED AND SOLD, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL, BY / FORBES & TUCKER, / CONCORD, N. H. / 1841". Label printed by Asa McFarland of Concord, NH. Pencil inscriptions on inner surface of door giving names and dates of cleanings and/or repairs in 1852, 55, and 58. Pencil inscriptions on back of dial re further repairs from 1849 to 1876. Separately stored parts: pendulum bob, winding key, two cast iron weights (cylindrical).

Material:

Wood
Mahogany
Poplar
Pine
Brass
Iron
Glass

Dimensions:

H-29.25 W-17.75 D-6 inches

Provenance:

Clock with label of Forbes & Tucker, 1841, Concord, NH. The two were partners briefly (1840-1841), and purchased movements from the Connecticut clockmaking firm of Boardman & Wells; Forbes and Tucker then assembled and marketed the clocks. Clock acquired by donor, Charles S. Parsons (1904-1988) in 1958 from Hobley Auctioneers, Boston, for $10. Clock had come from an estate in Maine. Part of a large clock collection and related materials made in NH., but also several made elsewhere, acquired in NH, by the donor and probably used here.

Credit Line:

Gift of Charles S. Parsons

People:

Forbes, Wells (1812-1880), Tucker, John, McFarland, Asa (1804-1879), Parsons, Charles S. (1904-1988)

Subjects:

Manufacturing