by Dennis Heyza
About ten years ago, I stumbled across an exhibition photo of an unusual clock. I was fascinated by its form and thought that, after retirement, I'd try to replicate it. Never mind that I only had a front-view image, one measurement (height), knew nothing about making clocks, and lacked carving experience. This is the result of my efforts to reproduce the casework of that clock, which was made by Daniel Rose for the governor of Pennsylvania in 1797. The original is in private hands and was last shown publicly in 1995. The uncommon form appears to have been unique to late 18th century Berks County, Pennsylvania; I found only three extant examples when doing my research. The front dimensions were worked up from the forementioned photo. The molding profiles were scaled from unmeasured photos provided by a conservator who made replacement rosettes for the original. Because of its atypical size, I had to make my own dial board, ink the time rings and numbers, and saw new steel hands. The decorative painting was done by a local artist. The refurbished movement came from an old mantle clock and is plate stamped August 1907. This piece was made using only hand tools. Special thanks to fellow SAPFM member and horologist, Troy Livingston, who made mountings for the hands, sent me a period appropriate bob and bell, and provided lots of advice regarding movements, and David Bowers of Bowers Conservation, without whom some of the finer details would have never been known.