Large Painted Pennsylvania Dutch Clock - What did I buy?

[Lincolnhill]

Good morning,

I picked this neat clock up the other day in Upstate New York. The movement is a typical wooden plates with brass gears and wooden dial setup. Somewhat unusual because it has an alarm. Original tiny tin can weights and pendulum.

The real gem is the case and where my questions lie. It stands just under 70" tall and has neat integral "wings" to allow the pendulum to swing. The door has old wire hinges similar to those found on early blanket chests. The paint is original throughout (other than a couple old touch ups) and simply fabulous. Signed down low and then again on the door.

Has anyone ever seen something similar? Does anyone have an idea when or where it was made? At this juncture I do not plan on running it but we will find a prime spot to display it in our 1830's farmhouse.

Any and all assistance with what its history may be is much appreciated,

Michael

 

[Richard T.]

Interesting clock and I haven't seen anything like it. Looks like it would be very unstable and turn over easily.

 

[Lincolnhill]

Good morning Richard,

Good point! I see know signs that a base was ever present and there is one (and only one) hole in the backboard that looks to have held a mounting screw for hanging. Unless we hear otherwise, my guess is that the clock was wall hung which would also get the dial up to a more "standard" height.

It will be interesting to see what others on the message board come up with.

Michael

 

[Steven Thornberry]

It impresses me as an example of early folk art, but I'm surely no expert. Could we get a look at the movement? Someone might recognize it. As a wood movement, we could move this thread to the wood movements forum, if you would prefer.

 

[Lincolnhill]

Good afternoon Steven,

As requested, please find attached two photos of the movement. I believe it is a standard Black Forest style movement, but I am far from an expert on this type of piece as my collection goes other directions. If someone in the forum believes that the movement will help bring some clarity to the clock's history, I would welcome the chance to move the thread elsewhere.

Thank you for your assistance,

Michael

 

[Oldfathertime]

The movement is that of which you would find in a 'postmans alarm' but looks very original to the case. Could this be another version of a postmans alarm I wonder?

 

[Rob P.]

Beautiful example of folk art. The signature tells me that the artist was proud of his work AND that he got paid for it. You might be able to search and see if he was prominent in that area as a commercial artist. Who knows, he might be an unknown Picasso.

I don't recognize the movement but I'm not that knowledgeable. I believe that the clock is a wall regulator and is supposed to be hung on the wall rather than have a base. It is an amazing representative of it's time and the culture. Which is really cool.

 

[soaringjoy]

A very unusual clock, indeed!
What I can tell you about the "hardware" is this:
The movement is a Schottenwerk of BF origin and the general set-up of wooden
arbors with brass wheels and pendulum inside the box came up about in 1820s.
The Lackschild dial gives us a clue that it was made around 1840, because they started
using decals then (unless it was applied later, which I can't tell by the pictures).
I'm quite, sure I've never heard of Bratenberger before - at least not associated with BF
clockmaking - and the name is, uhh, somewhat "strange", anglicized, perhaps, or actually
Dutch, not German. The firstname Johan with only one "n" would fit there too.
Neither Abeler (the standard reference for early German makers) nor Schaaf (reference of
BF makers) have a listing.
You might find some more clues on the back of the dial or on the movement itself.
For that, you will have to remove dial and backboard... btw, the latter were most often removed
and omitted for tall case clocks.

 

[rmarkowitz1_cee4a1]

Nice clock.

I believe it is a wall not a floor clock. Though not English, it does remind me of a type of I've seen from the UK that are essentially like tall case clocks but are made to be hung on a wall.

I don't think your clock originated on this side of the Atlantic.

I've seen similar paint schemes on European wardrobes and other painted furniture, specifically from N. Europe and Scandanavia.

I've nicked a photo of a Scandanavia wardrobe from from a website...take a look....



Check out the flowers in urns, faux marbelling, etc.

Look carefully at the wood the case is made of. Probably a soft wood. I would bet a European fir rather than a N. American pine.

Just a thought.

RM

 

[Tinker Dwight]

When you hand it, make sure you use a bolt of size to hang it with.
I would recommend having a metal piece welded up such that there
was a flat plate against the wall with lag bolts secured into a wall
stud( Make sure to drill pilot holes for the lag bolts or your likely
to split the old wood ).
Tinker Dwight

 

[leeinv66]

It looks to me to be a Schottenwerk that has been mounted in a Dutch or at least Dutch style case. I like it a lot!

 

[eskmill]

After reviewing the thread I believe Lincolnhill's clock is of the genre known in the US as "Pennsylvania Dutch."

Pennsylvania Dutch clocks ordinarily are tall case standing clocks most often in finely made but simple cases resembling imported or early American tall clocks but with imported BF movements including the face or shield.

There is an area of Eastern Pennsylvania once settled by German imigrants who spoke mostly in their native language.....known as Pennsylvania Dutch by the outsiders who had difficulty communicating with them on account of their language which wasn't the classic German dialect taught in American classrooms.

The Pennsylvania Dutch were mostly farmers, and very neat ones too, who admired the household furnishings of the wealthy in nearby Bryn Mawr and especially their fine clocks. Being thrifty, they constructed their own clock cases and installed Black Forest movements because the clockmakers in their own colony had been trained in clock repair in the Old Country.

The cases were not always homemade; some of hardwoods and some of pine, all showing excellent craftsmanship. A few were painted as the clock case Lincolnhill has found, sometimes with "milk-paint," a casein based house-paint or finished with shellac varnish.

They were very religious and extreme decoration is found on some furnishings with biblical inscriptions in a style of lettering called "fractals."

I believe Lincolnhall's clock is a wall hanging example of Pennsylvania Dutch locally made clocks.

The name Johan Bratenberger is consistent with Anglicising of German sirnames.

 

[jmclaugh]

What a pretty clock and I've never seen one like it before. An interior designer's dream I would imagine.

 

[Lincolnhill]

Good morning All,

Thank you to everyone who has responded so far. The information about Dutch, Scandanavian, and PA Dutch clocks and styles is very educational. As mentioned earlier, my collection tends to go a different direction so all of this information is new to me. I am looking forward to other's thoughts and to getting the clock hung and maybe, just maybe, running for a period of time.

Michael

 

[Rick Merritt]

This case is of southern Germany or Austrian origin. The case started life as a tall clock and would have had a base originally. This type of furniture is known as peasant furniture in Europe. It is provincial in nature.

Rick Merritt

 

[Lincolnhill]

Good afternoon Rick,

Thank you for the information. Any idea what the base might have looked like? The clock as it sits today is rather tall and rather skinny (width and depth) so is incredibly top heavy, especially with the weights fully wound. From a functional standpoint the base would need to be quite large to be stable however from an aesthetic standpoint a large base would look (in my opinion) rather awkward due to the otherwise delicate appearance of the clock.

While I can see know signs that a base was ever present, it certainly does not mean one wasn't. If I had a better sense of what it may have looked like (again provided it did exist) I could consider duplicating one.

Very interested in learning more about this piece.

Thanks again,

Michael

 

[soaringjoy]

Rick mentioned the "peasant furniture" which is the correct term in general.
Specifically, we would refer to Bauernmalerei, peasant painting.
Although common in southern Germany, this art appeared in other parts of the
country as well, in varying periods. It was a more or less regional topic.

Evidently though, most tall case clocks were equipped with BF movements in America.
This was not normally done in Germany, at least not in a larger scale, afaik.
One major exception was the so called Westfälische Uhr, the Westphalian clocks. They did
appear with Black Forest wooden plate movements and these were sometimes also used as
replacements for the original movement.
Many of the Westphalian clocks had sleek and tender cases - the pic will give you an idea -
but I can't remember seeing one in that combination that yours as, i.e., BF movement, Westphalia
case and Bauernmalerei.
I do admit, old German tall case clocks are a very specific theme on their own and, as ever so often,
many have not yet been ID'd.