This is an important tall case clock having a wooden geared 8-day movement made by Joseph Ives in Bristol, Connecticut. VV-46.
This is an important tall case clock having a wooden geared movement made by Joseph Ives in Bristol, Connecticut.
This is an outstanding example. Very few examples of Ives tall cases exist today. (Another example is exhibited at the American Clock & Watch Museum in Bristol, Connecticut.) This case is constructed in white pine and retains its original grain-painted decoration. The pattern is excellent. The case stands off the floor on a cutout bracket base forming four feet and a drop apron. The drop apron hangs down from the center section of the base. The painted decoration on the base panel to simulate the grain of a crotch veneer. The waist section is long and features a large rectangular door. This door is trimmed with a simple molded edge. It is also vibrantly painted in large burl patterns. Open this waist door, which locks on the left, and one can access the two tin can drive weights and the pendulum. The bonnet features a cornice molding pediment. The bonnet door is rectangular in shape. It is fitted with glass that protects the dial.
This dial is unusual because it is glass and painted-decorated from the back. The dial features a time ring that is formatted with Roman hour numerals. Each of the four spandrel areas features a gold star set in a swag decoration. The upper section of this dial features a couple of red roses in bloom. The coloring is excellent. A simple wooden molding frames the whole dial.
The movement is constructed in wood. Oak is used for the plates, cherry for the wheels, and mountain laurel is used in the construction of the roller pinions. The use of roller pinions was an Ives improvement in an attempt to reduce the amount of friction in the design of the movement. This clock is powered by weights and is designed to run for eight days fully wound. The tin can weights are original to this example and have been filled with sand, rocks, and whatever else was handy. The time train is compounded by a pulley. As a result, the barrel diameter on the time train is larger in order to hold more cord. This movement is also designed to strike each hour on a bell.
This clock was made circa 1813 and stands approximately 7 feet 2 inches tall.
Joseph Ives sold his factory in the North Village of Bristol and moved to the South Village in 1818. There he joined Elias and Titus Merriman Roberts and established the Joseph Ives & Co. It is in this shop that he introduced his brass-wheeled roller pinion weight-driven movement, which, at his time, was considered remarkable. It was a clear departure from the standard wooden works movement production that was now standard for this region. Unfortunately, this venture went bankrupt on December 24, 1819. As a result, very few of these clocks were made, and a small number have survived in this wonderful condition. It is reported that this model originally sold for $33, which is twice as much as the $15 cost of a standard Terry wooden works clock.
Inventory number VV-46.
Joseph Ives was born on September 21, 1782. He was one of six children born to Amasa Ives, who married into the Roberts family of Bristol, Connecticut. Gideon Roberts is recorded as the first clockmaker to have worked in Bristol, and it is now thought that he trained his five sons in clockmaking and possibly trained Joseph and his brothers in the trade as well. They all would have been trained before Gideon died of typhoid fever in 1813.
Joseph Ives began making wooden geared clocks about 1811 in East Bristol. Shortly after that, he moved to Bristol and continued in the trade. The type of clocks being manufactured was called “wag-on-the-wall” or hang-ups.” Peddlers who could carry a small number of them on horseback sold these across the countryside. A hang-up consisted of a movement, dial, hands, weights, and pendulum. They were generally sold without cases because of the added cost and the difficulty in transportation. As a result, most cases were made locally. Ives clocks are distinctive in that they typically feature rolling lantern pinions instead of leaf pinions in their movement design. This was an Ives improvement that was patented.
By 1820, Eli Terry was enjoying great success in selling the 30-hour wooden geared shelf clocks of his design. Terry’s clocks were powered by weights, and Ives began to experiment with a spring-powered version having roller pinions attached to a wooden movement. Due to financial difficulties, Joseph moved to Brooklyn, New York about 1825 and worked on Poplar Street. Here he begins the production of a movement constructed with rolled brass strips which are then riveted together to form the movement frame. Roller pinions and the leaf spring power are also used. The case of these clocks has a Ducan Phyfe furniture influence.
In 1830, Ives creditors caught up with him again, and he was on the verge of being sent to debtors prison. John Birge hears of this and travels from Bristol to Brooklyn to settle his debts and to persuade Ives to return to Connecticut to make clocks, first with C. & L.C. Ives, who were using his strap frame design and then with John Birge under Birge & Fuller name. This company used the leaf or wagon spring power in many clocks. This design of power was also patented by Ives.
Joseph Ives sold the rights to his patents and continued to work in the clock fields under various firms. He was never financially successful but is credited as one of the most ingenious Connecticut horologists. Joseph died in 1862.
For a more complete description of Joseph Ives and his working career, please read, The Contributions of Joseph Ives to Connecticut Clock Technology 1810-1862, written by Kenneth Roberts.
