Will here we go again...In late May was checking out ebay and there it was a four hand Pennsylvania Tallcase. Now for those who do not what this is the dial has four hands..seconds bit,hour,min. and calender hand all on the center shaft. about as complex and rare as one gets for a American tall case.Dial appeared to be a Nolan dial. You can tell by the raised gold dots on the dial and the Hemispheres on the arched moon dial.No pictures of the movement so ya take your chances.Dial was Emanuel Meily of Lebanon maker ,turned out it was Meyli another listed maker in the 1810 to 1830 era. Nice dial American shield design. Clock would not be shipped so a trip down to Soutern Indiana would be needed..from Cleveland...400 or so miles ..one way....hey that what spouses are for to help drive. The clock was very dirty from the pictures and appeared to have some inlay.Case was described as solid mahogany but was cherry with a coat of shellac on the case and dial.So I bid, have been looking for one for a decade or so a rash of last second bidding and and the clock changed hands.No problem go down on Thursday see Neice in Kentucky motor home on Sat...then it happen a good friend of ours (and yours?) passed a way after a long sickness. On to Washington and a sad good by.Miss you. Back to the clock..the clock was out of estate way back in the woods....so for back that the Gps did not show the road or any roads when we went to pick it up. It was mid day and black,wicked storms..as we pushed on to the house the roads were flooding with run off from the fields my spouse looked at me with what have we got ourselves into..with a lighting flash we finally saw the house built over a ravine a Frank Lloyd want to be from the 1950"s. Two nice dogs meet us and ushered us in the last half mile. The seller meet us and said she was selling the contents over Ebay. And not to be shocked by the dust since it had not been occupied for the past several years (1975!!!!). Went down a long hall way (thought it was carpet turned out to be dust). And their it was my new clock.A straight 4 hand clock with all the ownership since new history. Dusty ,filthy, not touched..just the way you like them.Here are some pictures. Will have more on the restoration in August.
...fun story and a fine clock Doug!...will look forward to seeing more photos as the restoration continues...should be an accurate timekeeper with the 'deadbeat' escapement...btw: butterfly looks more like a moth to me; don't know the significance of it but likely the casemaker's TM...
Movement is done. Mike Paul of Akron Ohio has done the movement and has usual excellent job. Mike had to put 7 bushings in the movement.He also commented the movement is American.Smooth winding drums and a half moon cut out on the back plate.Wonderful movement. Case will be back in Sept. (Mike has won 16 craftawards including 4 gold medals.Has also made his own movements from scratch)
Clock case is finished movement restored and everything looks great. Decided not to have dial restored just a little very gently cleaning with soap and water. Enjoy...
