Hello Holly, Thank you for sending in your grandmother’s mantel clock to mearto for an appraisal. One look at it tells me she took very good care of this antique timepiece. I will try to help you with understanding this clock and arrive at a fair market appraisal value for you. . . TITLE: Solid mahogany, Art Deco, spring driven, eight day time and striking “cabinet” mantel clock, Surrey model, made by the sessions Clock Company of Bristol, Ct. USA, circa 1935/1936. DESCRIPTION: CASE – 9” x 9.25” x 5” solid mahogany case with a gentle domed top pediment descending in vertical linear fashion on both sides of the case. The sides of the case have the traditionally ‘Art Deco’ touch of triple layers of wooden veneering, each of slightly different width. For some reason I always associate that style with skyscrapers (the Chrysler and Empire State buildings in NYC). There is a similar ornamentation, in much smaller scale just below the glazed brass dial bezel at the front. The base follows through on the Art deco style with a narrow three stepped base which is slightly bowed out at the center. A door at the back, with two brass strap style hinges provides access to the movement compartment. . . DIAL – 6” diameter, silvered round dial with white painted dial surround (correct) and having raised brass Arabic hours, open bar minutes, a Brocot aperture within the twelve which is turned with the end of the proper key for making the movement run faster or slower. These are steel Art Deco variants of “Holly” hands with adornments to the head of the hands and skeletonizing the stems of the hands. The dial is marked “Sessions” and “Made in USA. . . Movement: A skeletonized rectilinear plate movement connected by corner pillars which are screwed together at the back plate. There is an anchor escapement with short pendulum rod at the back with a hang on bob cast with an ‘S’ for Sessions. The movement is powered by two steel coiled springs, of eight day duration and striking a Cathedral coiled gong on the hour and half hour. Interestingly, this was a movement used in the Sessions “Mystic” model tambour clock first made in 1923. When the ‘Surrey’ first came out in the 1936 catalog it was advertised as striking with two hammers on twin bells. Therefore, I believe you have one of the earliest ’Surrey’ models which was transitional from the use of the coiled gong to the two bell strike. (That is why I dated it to 1935/1936). . . Condition: The clock is in excellent condition, but is missing the paper label that originally was pasted to the inside of the back door. This raises the question of whether somebody removed the label and changed the movement from an earlier model. I do not see any signs of tampering but one would really have to look very closely at how the movement attachments inside the case appear. That would have to have been done before your grandmother purchased the clock. I am going to assume that this is the movement originally with this case and appraise that way. Paper labels were glued on and simply the glue dried out and the labels fell off. I can still see where the label sat on the inside of the rear door. The dial is very good with traces of oil and darkening around the winding apertures. , the movement is unsigned, which was also commonly seen with Sessions. HISTORY: To understand where the Sessions Clock Co. came from it is first important to know the E.N. Welch Clock Company. Elisha Welch, born in 1809 developed a foundry to cast clock weights in Bristol, Ct. Up until 1840 just about all clocks ran by the use of weights, not springs. He was quite successful and when a financial panic took place in the mid-1850s he took that opportunity to buy up various failing clock business (J.C. Brown, Forestville Clock Co, Otis, Manross and Birge, Peck and Company). By 1864 he consolidated his holdings under his own name. His was one of the largest of the Ct. clock companies up until his death in 1897, after which it went into receivership. William Sessions (1857-1920) entered his father's trunk hardware business in 1876. He and his father John purchased a foundry in Bristol in 1879, The Sessions Foundry, and produced grey iron castings. In 1903 William and his nephew Alfred bought stock in the old Welch firm. They borrowed $65,000 to revitalize the company and reorganize it as the Sessions Clock Co. in 1903, with offices in Forestville and Bristol. Sessions continued the production of many of the Welch lines, including the black mantel and oak kitchen clocks. The depression of the early thirties brought trouble to this company, as well as the development of the electric clock. Shortly after 1936 the manufacture of spring wound clocks ceased. In 1956 the name was changed to the Sessions Company. In 1958 the company was sold to the consolidated Electronics Industry of New York. When antique clock prices were higher, back in 2002, a clock such as yours would sell at auction for $225. Today such clocks bring a fraction of their value from two decades ago. Here is a fine example from eBay which recently sold for $55: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Antique-Sessions-Surrey-8-Day-Half-Hour-Strike-Mantle-Clock-with-Key/223441859544?hash=item34062c33d8:g:Bh4AAOSwhUpchCMw This is a little Art Deco clock that I find very aesthetically pleasing and in fine condition, and have priced it above the eBay clock simply because I feel that one sold for less than the value it should have. I hope I have been of some help to you with this fine little clock and I hope you continue to enjoy this family heirloom far more than its monetary value represents. My best, David
