Birge & Fuller of Bristol, Connecticut. A single candlestick steeple-on-steeple mantel clock featuring wagon spring-power. DDD-32.

This is a choice example of a 30-hour wagon spring-powered steeple on a steeple clock. It was manufactured by the firm of Birge & Fuller in Bristol, Connecticut. This is a highly collectible example because it is powered with a wagon spring mechanism and housed in a seldom-seen single candlestick case.

This unusual model is called a single candlestick steeple-on-steeple. The name reflects the wooden candlestick-shaped spires mounted on either side of the case. Interestingly, the related version featuring four candle sticks is called the double candlestick model. It is a much easier example to locate in the marketplace. This case is constructed in mahogany and mahogany veneers. It retains an older finish. Even still, one can view the variations of grain patterns and wood color exhibited in the veneer. The case is raised on four turned compressed ball feet. Two doors access the interior of the case. The lower door is fitted with frosted glass. The decoration features a lion and an eagle. The pattern allows you to view the motion of the brass-faced pendulum bob when the clock is operating. The upper door is fitted with an additional frosted decorated tablet, and above this, a clear piece of glass in front of the dial. The decorated glass features an eagle and flags. All three glass panels are original to this clock. The decorated tablets are in excellent original condition. The dial is painted on tin and features a Roman-style numeral formatted time ring.

The movement in this clock is brass. It is typical in that it is designed to run for thirty hours on a full wind and strike each hour on a wire gong mounted inside the case. It differs from most other 30-hour movement examples in the manner in which it is powered. (This is a Joseph Ives Patent 1845 design.) A simple coil spring is the most common method of powering a Connecticut clock. When one winds this clock, a cord winds around the winding drum that pulls on hoists. A chain wraps around hoists and pulls on cast iron levers that tension the cast iron leaf springs. These are mounted or secured to the bottom of the case. The hoists are designed to help equalize the power put into the movement over the period of the wind. This is an ingenious idea. It improves the clock's ability to keep time more accurately. Wagon spring-powered models incorporate several cast iron parts, including the leaf springs, two levers, and hoists or pulleys. All of this would have been constructed at an added cost to the clockmaker, making this clock more expensive than the standard coil spring-powered model. As a result, this clock probably didn't sell very well. Today, because of the limited number of clocks made and the survivability of those that did, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find good examples such as this one.

Inside the case is the clockmaker's label. It reads, "PATENT / ACCELERATING LEVER SPRING / THIRTY HOUR BRASS CLOCKS, / Made and for sale Wholesale and Retail by, BIRGE & FULLER, / BRISTOL, CONN, ..."

This clock measured approximately 22 inches tall by approximately 11.75 inches wide and was made circa 1846.

Inventory number DDD-32.