Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Shelf Clock
1818-1822
Eli Terry (1771-1852)
USA: Connecticut, Plymouth
Wood, pewter, brass, glass, paint
overall: 30"h x 17-1/2"w x 4-3/4"d
Gift of John H. Van Gorden
74.7.1a-i

Shelf Clock; a: clock: pillar and scroll; mahogany veneer case with underglass painting of two gold urns on lower panel of door; "outside-escapement"; four wheel time train with solid front and back plates cleated to dial board; pewter hands; inscription: (label) "Invented / Made and sold by / Eli Terry / Plymouth, / Con."; b: door key; c: pendulum; d-e: weights; f: winding key; g-i: three brass urn-shaped finials.

After he revolutionized the production of wooden works for tall case clocks, Eli Terry turned his inventiveness to designing a new kind of attractive, affordable shelf clock. He focused on making the metal works efficient, small and cheap to produce. These clocks struck the hour and only needed to be wound every thirty hours. In the 1820s Terry patented his shelf clock design and subsequent improvements. With these modifications, the price he charged for his shelf clocks got lower and lower.