1880's Kitchen Clock Restored

This beautiful 'Gilbert & Co.' Kitchen Clock once belonged to my grandparents.   I remember seeing it at the top of their stairs when I went to visit.  Sometimes when I had 'overnights'  they would wind it up for me so that I could hear it chime.  I loved that sound.   I remember hearing my Grandfather talk about listening to that chime.  He had fond memories of it chiming in the background, while he was on the phone courting my Grandmother.  I was so happy to inherit the clock and all the memories and history that go along with it.  

The clock is very old though and was looking dull.  The beautiful wood grain was almost hidden beneath aged shellac.  As Shellac grows older ind becomes darker and looses it's shine.   If left long enough it can actually become black, especially if it is exposed to smoke or was a dark shellac to begin with.

To restore the finish on this clock we first removed all the clock mechanisms, doors, glass, etc. We then dipped all of the wooden parts into an Alkaline bath.  If dipped long enough the shellac could have come off completely.  But we just wanted the outer layer removed so it was a quick dip for this clock.  

We then were able to apply new layers of Orange Shellac over the original shellac to restore the clock to it's original appearance.   We are actually the only shop in California that is licensed to use Shellac.  It is part of a special historical finishes permit that we have.  This permit allows us to restore pieces such as this clock, and use the original type of finish.  Pretty neat right?

Unfortunately in the life of this clock the glass did break.  That happens to glass sometimes.  To complicate the issue, this glass had a very unusual gold art print on it.  The good thing is, there are still glassmakers out there who make reproduction prints specifically for clocks such as this.  I was able to find a re-production gold print from the very same clockmaker as the original!  

This Kitchen Clock is once again in beautiful condition.  The finish gleams and it now sits proudly at the top of my stairs, right where it should be.

An Old Clock Gleams Again

This beautiful old clock's finish had a dark brown tone when it came in to the shop, but that was not how the finish looked originally.  The finish is made out of shellac which will darken over time.  It also will bead up, sink into the recesses and loose it's glossy sheen.  To restore this clock, we didn't strip the old original shellac finish off, instead we put it in our cleaning tanks which got all the years of grime off.  There were a few minor repairs to the decorative leaves on the top which had to be done.  Then the entire wooden face was coated with 3 layers of an Orange Shellac which is as close as we could come to the original color of shellac on the clock.    The new coatings have smoothed the old to some degree but the texture of the old shellac is still visible underneath, which keeps some of the character of age.

The clock of course needs to have the door put back on,  but before that happens,  the inner workings of the clock will be repaired by a local clock company.  Once that is done, this clock will not just look beautiful but it will function properly and sound good as well.

The label on the back of the clock.

The owner of this clock is fortunate in that the original label is still in place.  Gilbert Clock Company used a number of different labels on the back of their clocks throughout the life of their business, which can help to identify what year the clock was made.   The style of this label tells us that the clock was made between 1885 and 1895.

From Antique Clock Price Guide's Site

AntiqueClocksPriceGuide   has a helpful page with photos of many of these labels.  If you have an old clock who's age you would like help identifying, you might check them out.