Object Details
maker
Terry & Andrews
Description
Made in the 1840s by the firm of Terry and Andrews, this clock represents an effort to incorporate imported springs, instead of falling weights, to drive the brass movement. At the time of its manufacture, there was no spring-making industry in the United States.
Theodore Terry and Franklin Andrews formed a partnership in 1842 in Bristol, Conn., to make brass clock movements, which began to replace wooden ones after 1838. In 1850 they moved to Ansonia, Conn., to form a company with Anson Phelps who owned a brass mill there. Beginning as a subsidiary of Phelps’ firm, the Ansonia Clock Company went on to build millions of clocks until it went out of business in 1929.
This clock has a brass time-and-strike movement. Its case has a beehive-shaped iron front inlaid with mother of pearl. The white painted dial has Roman numerals. A label inside the case has directions for setting up and regulating the clock and the makers’ names.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
James Arthur Collection, New York University
date made
ca 1840s
ID Number
1984.0416.030
catalog number
1984.0416.030
accession number
1984.0416
Object Name
shelf clock
Physical Description
iron (overall material)
mother of pearl (inlay material)
Measurements
overall: 15 3/4 in x 8 3/4 in x 3 13/16 in; 40.005 cm x 22.225 cm x 9.652 cm
bezel: 5 in; 12.7 cm
pendulum window: 2 3/4 in; 6.985 cm
overall: 15 1/2 in x 8 5/8 in x 4 1/8 in; 39.37 cm x 21.9075 cm x 10.4775 cm
overall: pendulum bob: 2 11/16 in x 2 1/8 in x 1/8 in; 6.82625 cm x 5.3975 cm x .3175 cm
See more items in
Work and Industry: Mechanisms
Measuring & Mapping
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1203358