What an interesting and satisfying project. I was surprised at how tall the clock is. Please do post a photo when the work is finished.

it's gonna be beautiful...Liz who is kicking herself when winding an ole clock last week broke something...

You aren't going to believe this! I am very familiar with that clock model! I was fortunate to have spent a part of every summer of my childhood staying at Huntington Memorial camp (the original Camp Pine Knot) on Raquette Lake.

Built by the famous architect W.W.Durant, and eventually owned by C.P. Huntington, it became a playground of the rich and famous of the day. The camp was abandoned suddenly at the death of Huntington and stayed untouched for many years. All of the luxurious appointnents, furnishings, library, even clothing were left in tact.

ANYWAY! It was eventually bequeathed to SUNY Cortland, which has been the camp 's guardian for over 60 years. Every summer for seventeen years, our family returned to that camp and stayed in the Durant cabin, where in one of the alcoves stood the clock.

It did have a carved bird on top, but on this particular individual, not an eagle. It was much discussed amongst us kids that it was either a swan or even a loon....so predominant on the lake.

The reverse paintings were pastoral. I always took for granted that the scenes were of the lake but who knows? I'll have to call my brothers to see what they remember of it.

rhiozo:

Interesting to hear that you are familiar with a similar clock. As you search for its identification, bear in mind that the Jared Arnold clock is easlily confused with another clock made by Birge, Peck & Co. The cases are almost identical, but the face and wheel counts differ. The Birge & Peck company was in Bristol, Connecticut whereas Jared Arnold was in Amber, NY.

On telling feature of the Jared Arnold clock is its face. There are a few other face designs that are similar, but the corner decorations of the J. Arnold clock are unique. Unfortuantely, the photo I posted of my clock has artifacts showing on the face that are not there. The orange smear and other smears are reflections from other sources in the room and are not actually on the face. The lighting was terrible and I had to choose a position to minimize a big glare on the glass.

I had thought that the movement may have been purchased from Bristol because similar movements were available from that factory. However, I have a book that believes that Jared Arnold made his own movements based on the wheel counts (no. of teeth on each gear and pinion). The wheel count differs from the Bristol movement.

This clock is rare because not many were made. The clock was manufactured by Arnold and his partner and the firm did not last very long. Arnold with Phillip Smith began making clocks and had established a factory by 1833. Arnold had purchased a saw mill and water priviledges on Otisco creek in May, 1833. They sold the factory in 1834 and Smith moved to Marcellus to continue his trade.

This is so interesting, how fascinating to uncover the history of this beautiful clock. My family used to take "Sunday drives " to Otisco Lake, the Finger Lakes are so beautiful. Amber is, apparently, a tiny community (hamlet) on the lake. I grew up in Homer, a village not far away.

This morning I found a picture of the clock I remembered on the Savage and Polite's 'Antique Clocks....Identification and Price List '. It came up on my search for Jared Arnold clocks. There's that unidentified fowl, lol.

I realize, of course, that the one I knew was in nearly pristine condition at the time. It had probably sat, untouched, in the same spot ever since that Great Camp was furnished. Maybe one of the famous visitors had brought it as a gift, purchased from a little antique shop on their long drive from NYC to Raquette Lake, lol.

I wonder where that clock is, now....if it and the many other beautiful iems (Tiffany lamps, twig furniture, leather bound book collections, etc.)

Good luck with your project. How fascinating it is.

Rhizo:

Did your antique clock have an ugly bird on top that looked like this one? When I first spied this one, I thought "ugly duckling" or swan, but, I am not sure what it was. There are other examples with eagles.

These splat decorations are plaster castings, not carved. Someone had to make the pattern for the molds, but likely, there existed only one carved pattern and all the rest were plaster casts.

Typically, this decoration is mounted to a board and the board spans the distance between the two 'towers'. This one is different. It could be a board with a rod through it.

Yes, that's the image I saw from the Savage and Polite's web site. What the heck IS that bird? I spoke to two of my brothers to see if they had a memory of this clock. I should have known better......they were such rotten boys back then, lol. One had a vague feeling that the scenes were of Raquette Lake, but I doubt that. One of the paintings had a small waterfall, not something found on Raquette Lake or R. River.

Rhizo:

Here's a Jared Arnold that I found in a museum in upper New York State. Are any of the two (reverse painted) scenes familar to you?