Guide To Antique Wall Clocks

Wall clocks represent one of the largest categories of antique clocks. Throughout the years, walls clocks have been produced in an enormous number of styles, from Rococo to Biedermeier, Arts and Crafts to Art Deco, cuckoo to Coca-Cola.

Some of the first wall clocks were the cartel clocks of 18th-century France. Housed in elaborate cast-bronze or gold-leaf-on-wood frames, these wall clocks often featured Roman numerals on white dials surrounded by gilt garlands, cherubs and figurines.

The cuckoo clocks were made in Germany’s Black Forest are another venerable wall-clock form, particularly the house-shape ones made in the 19th century.

Picture clocks from the same century, mostly from Austria, inserted clocks into paintings. In many cases, the paintings would depict village scenes—the hands of the real clock would be intentionally placed on the painting so as to be positioned on the exterior of, say, a church steeple for example. Vienna was also a center for regulator wall clocks, which were known as the most accurate of all clocks during that time period.

Contemporary wall clocks that came about in 19th-century America evolved from these earlier models, as well as from English wag-on-the-wall clocks, whose weights and pendulums dangled and swung below the clock’s case.

The most famous and sought-after antique American wall clock is Simon Willard’s banjo clock, which was so named for its resemblance to an upside-down banjo.

In the early part of the century, every American clockmaker worth his salt made a banjo clock. They were typically cased in mahogany wood and frequently had brass ornamentation on their sides to suggest frets on a banjo’s neck.

Some were crowned with animals such as eagles, others were anchored by boxes that were decorated with paintings of everything from harbor scenes to grand estates. Still other variations replaced the banjo shape with that of a lyre.

The gallery clock was another popular type of American wall clock. Unlike the banjos, which had long cases to hide the clock’s pendulum, these were almost entirely all dial, with hardly any casing beneath the clock’s face at all. Gallery clocks fast became a favorite of a number of public organizations and churches.

Schools also got their own design, the so-called schoolhouse clock, first appearing sometime between 1850’s through the 1860’s. Similar to the gallery clock, but with more framing—usually wood—around the dial, schoolhouse clocks had short cases below their faces, often with a small pane of glass to reveal the pendulum inside.

Mirror clocks were also a popular American wall clock design, and hard to find today given how fragile they are. Most often the dial would occupy the top ¼ or 1/3  of the clock’s rectangular case, with the lower section housing to a mirror, behind which swung the clock’s pendulum.

Double-dial wall clocks from makers such as Jerome and Ingraham were another 19th-century favorite. Generally, a clock showing minutes and hours would fill the top section of the case, while hands pointing to the month, date or year filled the bottom. Some models had tumblers with the printed names of the months and days poking through the dial, giving these antiques an almost digital appearance.

By the 20th century, many of these wall-clock styles were being mass-produced by Seth Thomas and a number of other manufactures. With the invention of electrical wall clocks, designers began incorporating neon to their models and making their clocks out of plastic, chrome, and steel.