Hello Bill,
Thank you for sending in this antique Hall clock to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that tonight.
TITLE:
Stained and carved Red mahogany, three weight, nine tube, eight-day time, strike and quarterly chiming Hall clock, dial and movement components obtained from J.J. Elliot of London, tubular bells from J. Harrington of Coventry, London, case parts likely from J.J. Elliot or J.C. Jennens, both of London, shipped to, obtained and assembled by Walter H Durfee, at his Manufactory, 238 High Street, Providence, Rhode Island, and wholesaled to prominent retail shops across the USA, circa 1890-1895.
PROVENANCE:
“Unknown, but there is a family legend that it once was in the Guggenheim mansion.” (Hempstead House, also known as the Gould-Guggenheim Estate or Sands Point Preserve, is a large estate that was built for Howard Gould and completed for Daniel Guggenheim in 1912. It is located in Sands Point on the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County, New York.
Built: 1909)
DESCRIPTION:
Case: 108” in height, this is a heavily carved late 19th century Hall clock which appears to be precisely the type of monumental carved case Hall clock that Durfee assembled from English arts and sold to places such as the Herschede Clock Company of Cincinnati, Tiffany & Co. - New York, Theodore B Starr – New York, Tilden Thurber – Providence RI, James E. Caldwell – Philadelphia Bailey Banks & Biddle – Philadelphia, Spaulding & Co. – Chicago and many others. Although I do not know the pattern number for this case it is quite similar in design to a hall clock that Durfee built specifically for Frank Herschede, the owner of that large furniture company in Cincinnati.
The massive hood has a shallow broken arch pediment with pinwheel terminals, foliate arches and is surmounted by a convex mahogany moulding with curled spikes rising in the middle, at the apex of the hood, acting as dual finials. Two urn and sire finials sit to either side of the pediment. The tympanum has a textured surface with applied carved curled acanthus leaves. Below, is a three-step break-arch cornice with central keystone. Just below is the complex arched glazed dial door with two knuckle hinges on the right and the immediate door frame incised in a fish scale pattern and flanked by carvings of young female caryatid pilasters with Ionic capitals and foliate carved tapered bases. The two female figures hold a carved floral drapery which falls below the dial as it passes from one figure to the other. The figures hold the ends with their bell-flowers. An architectural foliate and dentil molding transitions down to the trunk section which is divided into three parts and runs the length of the trunk: Above and below there are carved rectangular panels of Fleur-de-Lys with curled foliage spreading to either side. The large beveled glass section allows viewing the nine silvered brass tubular bells, each one should be marked J. Harrington, observe the fall of the three brass canister weights and the arch of the single silvered canister precision pendulum bob. The sides of the trunk are decorated with concentric rectangular pilasters with Ionic capitals. Below the door there is another dentil molding which leads one down to the base with its recessed rectilinear panel fully carved with a Grotesque male facial mask which has tendrils of vines and foliage spreading outward to fill the rectangular surface. A broad, convex foliate carved base molding sits below flat to the ground and is missing its animal paw carved feet.
Dial: This is a gold plated heavy arche brass dial, lacking an inscription plate where one can normally find the name of the maker or jewelry retail store. There is a silvered brass Arabic hour chapter ring with each hour in round cartouche form, foliate half hour markers are seen between each cartouche, open dotted minute ring to the outside, subsidiary seconds dial under the twelve, steel fenestrated Chippendale style hands, three winding apertures, gilt brass foliate filigree work in the dial center and the four spandrels. There are two other subsidiary dials in the upper spandrels: chime/silent on the left, and on the right a dial for choosing Westminster or Whittington chiming. A lever at the nine position controls the strike/silent feature. The lunette of the dial has a revolving moon dial with wo moons, one seascape and one landscape. An Arabic lunar month calendar is directly above (The lunar month is 19 ½ days long), while below there are two stylized engraved hemisphere maps, primarily showing Europe on the right and North America on the left. In between the hemispheres is a rondel with what appears to be a floral rosette, although I cannot see it clearly. That is of interest because it may be a five lobed rosette. If that is what you can see, that form is one of the logo symbols used by J.J. Elliot. On these early dial and movements there was never meant to be a maker’s name.
Movement: Superbly crafted heavy rectangular bras plates with tapered bras cuffed pillars, anchor recoil escapement, steel cut pinions, three grooved winding drums to take up the cord of the three bras canister weights. There is rack and snail striking on the front plate, the three weights power the movement for eight days, cause striking on the hour on the long tubular bell and chime on the entire set of nine tubular bells (made by J. Harrington of Coventry, England). The nine tubes vary from each other in length. The movement has nine hammers extending from the top of the plates which strike the tubes, the latter are suspended upon a horizontal cross bar. Usually, this clock was made with a triple jar f liquid mercury as the pendulum bob for greater accuracy and accounting for changes in the weather. If so, this current weighted silvered elongated canister-shaped bob is likely a replacement since the mercury tube often broke.
On such clocks one can look for the name ‘Walter Durfee” engraved on the top or bottom edge of one of the brass plates. (early on, Durfee signed the Jennens-made movements on the bottom of the back plate. Otherwise, he put his name on the upper edge of one of the two plates. (I do not know if you knew to look at the edges of the brass plates. It is tough to see.)
CONDITION:
Case – Missing its feet. However, this is a magnificently carved mahogany case in the style that one finds with Elliot or Jennens cases on Durfee clocks. I have no doubt it was ordered by Durfee and put together in his manufactory in Providence. It is in excellent condition other than its missing feet. (Perhaps you should check inside the clock case. They may have been purposely removed and put in there.)
Dial: excellent and unsigned as it should be in the years of 1890-1895.
Movement: I suspect that the pendulum bob may well be a replacement for a mercury-jar bob. Otherwise, the movement, pendulum rod and three polished brass weights are original as are the Harrington tubular chimes.
HISTORY:
In 1877 at the age of 20, Walter went into business for himself selling “antiques” at 295 High Street in Providence RI. Mr. Durfee claimed that he bought and sold over 400 tall case clocks in his first 8 years in business. By mid-1880s, Durfee decided to purchase new English bracket clocks and resell them in his antique shop in Providence RI. It was from this venture that Walter Durfee met the fine quality clock manufacturer in London of Jennens and Sons. Jennens and Sons sold their clocks directly to the public but also through leading jewelry stores in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, New York and Boston. Jennens saw Durfee as another outlet for their products. Jennens & Sons was the first to make tall case clocks for him to sell in the USA. The clocks were sent unassembled to Providence, RI where Durfee would have them assembled for sale. Due to the success of the new Grandfather clocks, Durfee had to open up a new location in Providence, 283 High Street, which he called his “manufactory.”
In 1886 Walter Durfee on a trip to England meet J. Harrington, an Englishman who had just developed and patented a “bell chime” of exceptional high quality that was used in opera houses and theaters. They were 1.5-inch diameter metal tubes that were nickel plated. They varied in length to provide accurately tuned for pitch.
Walter soon developed a friendship with Mr. J. Harrington and a business arrangement was made making Walter Durfee the sole agent for Harrington’s tubular chimes in the United States. Both parties saw the opportunity to use them in tall case clocks. Harrington was also a sales representative for J.J. Elliott Ltd., clock manufacturer in London. J.J. Elliott produced a clock works to use the tubular bells patented by Harrington. The design had 8 tubes suspended from the back of the clock case with the chimes ranging from 4 to 6 foot with a 9th chime approximately 7 ft. long mounted in front of the 8 tubes to strike the hour. Walter Durfee made an arrangement with JJ Elliott Ltd. to build a 3-weight clock with quarter hour chime and hour strike on the “new” tubular chimes. In 1887, Walter Durfee received his first 9 tube grandfather clock. He sold it for $500.
By 1890 Walter Durfee had created a true ‘fad’ for the high end ‘hall clocks’. Everyone who had the money wanted one of his 9 tube chiming clocks. This forced Durfee to spend more time in England pushing the clock works manufacturer to produce more product. This ‘fad’ brought on a nation-wide desire for Durfee’s clocks.
From the first sale in 1887 to 1897, Durfee stated they had sold over 1,000 tubular clocks from $500 to $700 price. This was a major revival of the tall case clock in a new design. His patent to Harrington tubular chimes ran out. Durfee then lost a court case in 1902 and lost the exclusive rights to sell tubular chime clocks in the USA. By 1905 he teamed up with Waltham clocks and produced lower priced Hall clocks.
By 1910 the market was changing and he switched to producing “banjo” wall timepieces. Ultimately, he sold about 2000 chiming Hall clocks. He died in 1939 at age 82 and has left a lasting legacy of entrepreneurship in the clock business.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/91215759_monumental-carved-durfee-tube-grandfather-clock (sold in 2020 for $16,500)
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/walter-h-durfee-providence-rhode-island-for-j-e-c-654-c-1a34476aa8 (sold for $8500 in 2016)
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/w-durfee-hall-clock-9-tubes-188-c-24a41fabb2 (sold for $2400 in 2019)
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/carved-inlaid-mahogany-walter-durfee-9-tube-hall-4201-c-7b39d4688d (passed because it did not reach $12,000 in 2012)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/carved-and-inlaid-mahogany-walter-durfee-9-tube-hall-clock-the-ornately-peMpnrYof (same clock as above, passed)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/653-tremendous-walter-h-durfee-hall-clock-w-lZ9SA9qXL (sold for $7500 in 2004)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/walter-h-durfee-providence-rhode-island-for-j-e-caldwell-and-co-jr6mbiHiN (sold for $8500 in 2016)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/71958902_exceptional-tiffany-and-co-grandfather-tall-case-clock (made for tiffany & co which usually doubles the price, this sold in 2019 for $23000)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/2107015_243-tiffany-grandfather-clock-9-bell-westminster-and (This clock sold for $50000 back in 2006 when prices of such monumental clocks were higher than today.)
PRICING:
The connection to the Guggenheim mansion is not proven and is not being considered. Such rumors can start over the years simply because Guggenheim has a Durfee Hal clock in his mansion.
**What excites me about your particular clock is that it resembles the basic configuration of the very special clock that was made for Frank Herschede and shown in Tran Duy Ly’s book on Standing floor regulators. It clearly is different but it has a lot of aspects in common. What also is quite solid in the provenance is that you family has owned this clock for eight decades and more.
I believe in today’s demanding marketplace that the unique quality of your Durfee example would draw many interested buyers. My educated guess is that the fair market value of your Durfee Hall clock, even with missing feet, would be in the range of $20000-$25000. Retail pricing would be at least twice that amount.
I hoped you enjoyed reading this appraisal because I enjoyed doing it for you and learned quite a bit myself along the way.
I thank you for choosing mearto.com for your appraisal.
My best,
David