John Sawin Lyre Banjo Clock, ca. 1825
Watch
GUEST:
I know it belonged to my husband's grandmother. And then when my in-laws passed away, we have the clock now. It's got ships on it and it's got all this little stuff, and the American eagle and all that. But we all know that they make commemorative stuff, so I figured it was just something that they made that people like to show their heritage so you buy these things and you hang them on your wall. And I'm a huge fan, okay, huge fan of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, watch it all the time. So I was never sure should I touch it or should I not touch it? If it's precious, y'all always say don't touch them.
APPRAISER:
This is what we call a lyre clock or a lyre banjo clock. It was made in Boston about 1825.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
And we can tell you who made it because there's a little bit left of his signature right here on the dial. That says "Sawin," which represents John Sawin, a clockmaker from Boston. And in the 1820s, he was well-known for making these lyre clocks.
GUEST:
How cool.
APPRAISER:
So it has this lyre shape. That's where it gets its name. And this is carved mahogany that's been gilded, so it's got this nice old surface that we on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW appreciate. This is an eight-day clock. You wind it up here, it runs for eight days on a winding.
GUEST:
What are these ships? It says 1825, it's not Civil War, which is what I always thought it was.
APPRAISER:
This is actually a representation of a naval battle from the War of 1812. This is probably the Constitution and the British ship the Guerriere. And that is British flag right there, and this is an American flag.
GUEST:
See, I thought the one with the crosses and all was Confederate.
APPRAISER:
And it's similar to the Confederate flag, but that's a British flag.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
The problem-- if you want to call it a problem-- is that this glass panel is repainted.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
And that has an impact on the value of the clock. Same here, this panel is also repainted.
GUEST:
Well, that's why it looks good to be so old.
APPRAISER:
Right, because it's not that old. At least the glass panels are not. And to a collector, that makes a big difference in the valuations. There's another problem of condition issue, and that is it used to have a bracket below here. That's missing. So you talked about your concerns with altering it, changing it, well, someone has already done that, unfortunately. But you can maintain it the way it is and I would suggest that you leave it alone. Lyre banjoes are a rare form.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Even though it's not a perfect clock, it still has a good deal of value. I would say that a collector would probably pay around $1,200 for this clock in a retail store.
GUEST:
Okay, wait a minute. One more time.
APPRAISER:
$1,200.
GUEST:
$1,200. $1,200. For this clock?
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
Okay, all right.
APPRAISER:
If this were a perfect example of a John Sawin clock...
GUEST:
Don't tell me.
APPRAISER:
$20,000.
GUEST:
No.
APPRAISER:
This is a teaching tool. Leave them alone.
GUEST:
Leave them alone. So I was right, leave it alone.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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