Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Shelf Clock
1845
Birge and Fuller (1844-1847)
USA: Connecticut, Bristol
Mahogany, metal, glass, paint
overall: 28"h x 15-1/2"w x 4"d
Gift of Mrs. Willis R. Michael
81.57.1a-c

Shelf Clock; a: clock: mahogany case steeple-on-steeple; 8 day striking movement with detached fusee; two glass tablets; top oval has red and blue flowers and leaves; bottom has lobed diamond with red with flowers and green spruce; b: winding key; c: pendulum.

In the 1820s, Americans, unlike Europeans, did not manufacture the good quality coiled steel springs used to power small clock mechanisms. Clockmaker Joseph Ives (1782-1862) developed a different kind of clock spring that was easier to make, a miniature version of the springs used in wagons. The firm Birge and Fuller acquired Ives’ faltering business in the 1830s, including his patents. For several years, they made fashionable, gothic-style clocks, like this one, powered by Ives’ innovative springs.