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Summary: The Ansoina Clock Company imported china clock cases from Germany. Learn what qualities to look for in porcelain and china clocks in this free video on collecting antique Connecticut clocks from an antique clock collector.
Views: 121 | Tags: collecting, clocks, antique collecting
Bob Frishman Bob Frishman is the owner of Bell-Time Clocks, and he has collected and repaired clocks since 1980. From the time that he turned this hobby into a full-time h... read more
We're looking at china or porcelain clocks. Many of these were made by the Ansonia Clock Company, these two models were. But when I say made by Ansonia, Ansonia Clock company made the movements, but these cases normally were imported often from Germany, often they were royal bond cases. You may notice to, if you have a sharp eye, that the paintings are the same in these two cases, and that not only is a coincidence, but it tells you that these were mass produced in that way. There may have been people sitting there painting them, but they certainly were painting them from rigid patterns, and they wanted the clocks to look like they wanted them to look, there wasn't any- much free hand artistry going on there. The nice thing with these cases is, when they're royal bond they usually tell you, as you can see on the back. And they also tell you the name of the model, this is the LaCambra model, this one is- lets see that one is LaCapelle, they all had names, and it helps you identify them. Also we look in our back here and we see the typical Ansonia movement. These, as you may be able to see, say New York on them, so this tells you that these are probably from the 1890's when the company had already moved from Connecticut down to Brooklyn New York. The one aspect that makes china clocks more valuable, particularly Ansonias, is if they have what's called, an open escapement, which these don't, but we may show you some clocks later on that do. Where you actually can see the escape wheel in the front, and little pellets going back and forth. Those sometimes can even double the value of these clocks, as can the color. There are certain colors that are more desirable than others. You can read about that in some of the books that we've talked about, to see which are the most highly desirable for collectors.