English Tall Case Clock
Watch
GUEST:
Brussels had a large flood. There was thousands of homes that were flooded. And in the flood, the water came up to this line right here. The bottom started coming apart, so I had to have it archivally restored. She used waxes and she used varnishes that were appropriate. And she took her time.
APPRAISER:
Well, here's an example of what I think was a very good restoration job. They matched the colors. The old surface is still there on the door. The thing that you should know about English clock making is that many clocks were remade, sometimes one or two times, throughout their lives. Originally, this was an 18th century clock that was made by a man who signs it on the dial and that's how most grandfather clocks are marked. This one is Carter, and he worked in a town, Ampthill. Judging from the dial of this clock, this looks like the kind of thing they were doing in the late 1700s. But it's very unusual because it has what we call three trains. Three trains means that not only does it strike, but it also chimes, or strikes the quarter hour. Originally, this had a case where it was a square dial.
GUEST:
I see.
APPRAISER:
And then somebody added this baroque arch, when they made this case.
GUEST:
I see.
APPRAISER:
Many of the cases were oak cases. They were rather plain. They were country in style. They were solid oak, but then they were taken, and in the late 1800s, recarved. So if we can imagine this as a flat surface, it now has been carved to accept this very Gothic style, which it now has. There was a Gothic revival at that time. The clockworks, however, has all the traits of a classic English clock. I'm going to take this off.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And we have to unlock it. This has the lock still intact. And hold on there. Because we don't want this to fall down. I always put my thumb there on that door so it won't...
GUEST:
Okay, open up.
APPRAISER:
...come crashing into your face. If we look at the inside of this, you notice that down here there are four bells, and they were designed to strike the quarter hours. (bells chiming) Very much like a Westminster chime. It's a quarter-hour chime.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So my conclusion about this clock is that, although there are alterations, I believe that the clockworks itself were originally made by Carter, and it was originally made 1700s, in Ampthill, but then it took later modifications and remaking to come to the point where we are now with this case. I'm going to put the top back on. I think you can call this an antique, although it's different in nature. I wouldn't be surprised if in today's market, you'd find a clock like this selling in the range of $8,000, $10,000.
GUEST:
Wow. I see.
APPRAISER:
So that's...
GUEST:
Better than the $300 he paid for it.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
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