Clocks, Watches, and Antiques at Schmitt Spring Sale

May 17th, 2015


The highlight of the two-day sale was this 80" high E. Howard & Co. No. 60 regulator wall clock that sold for $40,500.


This man’s minute-repeating chronograph was the highlight of the watches when it sold within estimate for $16,312.50. It was made by London makers Nicole, Nielson & Co. for Dent & Co., also of London. It had 18-plus jewels and a gilt plate movement with a lever escapement in an 18k yellow gold hunting case. It was inscribed “Downshire from his Mother July 2nd 1892” and was engraved with the Downshire coat of arms and bore London marks for 1891.


Patek Philippe made the Chronometro Gondolo for Gondolo & Labouriau of Rio de Janeiro between 1900 and 1930. The 20-jewel example from about 1910 in an 18k gold case brought $4050, just above the high estimate.


This E. Howard & Co. No. 12 regulator wall clock, circa 1874, 60" high, has an eight-day time-only weight-driven movement in a mahogany case with a silvered brass dial and an arched and reverse-painted lower tablet. It sold for $8100. Despite losses such as the incomplete and missing weight and hour and minute hands, the overcoated finish, and what appeared to be repainting to the tablet, bidders pursued it, besting the $4000/5000 estimate. Dan Horan explained that the clock was an exceptionally early Howard regulator and the form was rare.

This 96" tall clock by John Elliott of London for  Bigelow Kennard & Co., Boston, circa 1910, has an eight-day time-and-strike weight-driven movement, a Westminster chime, and an engraved brass dial. It sold for $9562.50. The case was mahogany with herringbone inlay and floral decoration on the door and Roxbury fretwork on the base.

R.O. Schmitt Fine Arts, Manchester, New Hampshire

Photos courtesy R.O. Schmitt Fine Arts

There were thousands of clocks, watches, parts of same, and books on clocks spread across the cavernous convention center rooms at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire, for the May 16 and 17 auction by R.O. Schmitt. The star of the sale was an 80" high E. Howard & Co. No. 60 regulator wall clock that sold just shy of the high estimate for $40,050 (includes buyer’s premium). The clock was made around 1885 and was in a black walnut case. It had an eight-day time-only weight-driven movement, with a seconds-beating movement, a Graham escapement, a mercury-compensated brass pendulum, and a silvered brass dial.

The auction was the 75th held by R.O. Schmitt. While gallery attendance was slim, the Internet prevailed, and the phones were busy.

Other E. Howard & Co. regulators were also desirable. A No. 59-8 regulator wall clock was an eight-day time-only weight-driven movement in a walnut case with burl and ebonized highlights and a black-painted iron dial with gold numerals and hands and a damascene nickel-plated pendulum. The circa 1885 clock sold for $7875 (est. $5000/7500).

An E. Howard No. 9 regulator figure-eight wall clock in a black walnut case with an 8" diameter chapter ring sold for $7087.50.

A 96" tall clock by John Elliott of London made for Bigelow Kennard & Co. of Boston, circa 1910, with an eight-day time-and-strike weight-driven movement with Westminster chime and an engraved brass dial sold for $9562.50. The case was mahogany with herringbone inlay, floral decoration on the door, and Roxbury fretwork on the base.

A 106" high English tall clock by J.J. Elliott of London, circa 1910, with an eight-day time-and-strike weight-driven movement, Westminster and Whittington chimes on nine tubes, a brass dial with cast brass trim, and a raised silver chapter ring sold within the estimate for $7875. The mahogany case was stunningly ornate with fretwork and applied carving over the glass of the trunk door. Another J.J. Elliott example, also circa 1910, was 96" high in a mahogany case with fluted full Corinthian columns flanking the hood and the seven-pane beveled glass trunk door. It stood on hairy ball-and-claw feet and sold for $3937.50.

A shelf acorn clock, circa 1845, by the J.C. Brown Co. and the Forestville Manufacturing Co., with an eight-day time-and-strike spring-driven movement, a painted metal dial, and a reverse-painted lower tablet, all in a rosewood and rosewood veneer case, sold for $7875.

A mahogany wall acorn clock, also circa 1845, by Forestville Manufacturing Co., Bristol, Connecticut, with an eight-day time-only spring-driven movement, a painted zinc dial, and a reverse-painted lower tablet sold for $7312.50, well above the $2000/3000 estimate. Dating from about 1845, the clock retained the paper label that read, “Eight Day/ Spring Time Piece / Manufactured by / J. G. Brown & Co. / Bristol, Connecticut.”

A single-owner collection of German clocks made at the Aktiengesellschaft fur Uhrenfabrikation (Stockholder Corporation for Clock Manufacturing) in Lenzkirch in the Black Forest attracted no small interest. According to clock expert and M.A.D. colleague Bob Frishman, who cataloged many Lenzkirchs, as they are known, they are relatively rare and of particularly high quality. The collection was carefully gathered over the years and represented a grand opportunity for other collectors. A Lenzkirch mantel clock in the French style in burgundy porcelain decorated with ormolu and walnut and over two dozen pieces of brass trim, some of which was gilt and others of which were silvered or nickel, sold for $5737.50. The circa 1880 German clock, 22" high, made at the factory in the Black Forest, had been professionally restored.

A Lenzkirch walnut architectural mantel clock with an eight-day time-only movement and swinging brass cherub pendulum was made in 1903 and sold for $4612.50. A Freischwinger example with an open well and a built-in top, 39" high, was made with approximately 24 pieces of brass and a fancy cast pendulum bob, a fancifully engraved brass dial with gilt highlights, and a brass family presentation plaque in old German. Dating from 1873, it sold for $4500.

The highlight of the wrist and pocket watches that opened the sale was a man’s minute-repeating chronograph that sold within estimate for $16,312.50. It went to the same phone bidder who bought a Patek Philippe convertible 18-jewel Calatrava wristwatch in a rare stainless steel case with a stainless steel mesh bracelet for $5400. The back of the circa 1960 watch was engraved, “Barry Goldwater / Desirée / to / N. / High Noon.”

A 20-jewel Patek Philippe Chronometro Gondolo made for Gondolo & Labouriau of Rio de Janeiro,1900-30, sold for $4050, just above the high estimate. Another Patek Philippe18k rose gold pocket watch was engraved with a lion on the back and the maker’s marks and the date “August the fourth / 1901” on the cuvette. Accompanied by the original certificate of authentication, it went to an absentee bidder for $3937.50 (est. $2500/3500).

The auction included some 200 railroad pocket watches that were well received. A Bunn Special by the Illinois Watch Co., Springfield, Illinois, sold for $6750. Another example by the Illinois Watch Co. was a 21-jewel Benjamin Franklin in a hunting case, engraved “I.S. Mason.” It was estimated at $800/1200 and realized $3375. An E. Howard pocket watch had a damascened nickel-plated movement with a lever escapement and a whiplash micrometric regulator that was in a 14k multicolor gold hunting case with applied diamonds in a floral decoration. It was a pleasant surprise when it sold for $5287.50 (est. $2600/3000).

It wasn’t all about keeping time, however. Two Japanese bronze hand warmers from around 1875 were each signed on the bottom and sold for $4950 (est. $200/300); they were headed to China. A Victorian mahogany calling card stand, 49" high, carved with a putto holding the card tray, circa 1880, sold for $2250, more than twice the low estimate. A 40-piece set of Tiffany sterling flatware in the 1961 Bamboo pattern brought $4275.

The second-to-last lot of the two-day event was a late 20th-century German singing bird box (4¼" long) in an engraved gilt bombé case with enamel decoration. It sold to an American buyer just above the high estimate for $4500.

In honor of R.O. Schmitt’s 75th auction, a woven wall hanging with a design of the 75th auction catalog cover was presented to Bob Schmitt. Bearing in mind the tight community of clock collectors and dealers, the Windham, New Hampshire, auction house invited catalog subscribers to describe their experiences with R.O. Schmitt and about collecting in general. Several stories are posted on Schmitt’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/roschmitt).

For information, check the website (www.roschmitt.com) or call (603) 432-2237.

This E. Howard figure-eight No. 9 regulator wall clock in a black walnut case with an 8" chapter ring sold for $7087.50.

This Seth Thomas Regulator No. 15, a 100" tall-case clock with an eight-day time-only weight-driven nickel-plated movement, a thumbprint single jar mercury pendulum, and a brass dial, sold for $17,437.50. The case was walnut with walnut accents, and the clock dated from about 1886.

This English cathedral-form skeleton clock was made with seven turned pillars joining the pierced plates. It has a silvered dial with Gothic Roman numerals and heart-shaped piercings and scalloped edges. The eight-day time-and-strike fusée movement with recoil escapement is mounted on a molded mahogany base. The circa 1870 clock was enclosed in a Lexan shade, which replaced the former glass globe. It sold for $4050 (est. $2000/2500).

This Lenzkirch mantel clock in the French taste was made of burgundy porcelain decorated with ormolu and walnut with over two dozen pieces of gilt, silvered, or nickel-plated brass trim. It sold for $5737.50. The circa 1880 German clock, 22" high, was made at the factory in the Black Forest and had been professionally restored.

Two Japanese bronze hand warmers (one shown), circa 1875, were each signed on the bottom and sold to a buyer in China for $4950 (est. $200/300).


Originally published in the August 2015 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2015 Maine Antique Digest

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