| Figure 4, Tall clock by Henry Ober, c.1830. Case is signed on the backboard behind the movement, “John Smith . . . made this . . . 18 . . “ Private collection. |
The main product of Ober’s shop was, of course, the tall clock. The case of the clock shown in Figure 1, part of our Museum collection, is primarily cherry with curly maple trim and matched mahogany veneers. It exemplifies the late Federal style of Lancaster County, with a wide waist, a frieze of dark figured veneer at the top, and small turned feet. The dial has been stripped and repainted in its original style, typical of many dials on area clocks of the 1820s and 1830s and attributed to William Jones of Philadelphia. The tall clock movement of this clock, shown on the right in Figure 3, is an eight-day with a deadbeat escapement, with seconds and date hands from the center. It has a tailless gathering pallet and rack-hook locking, the strike system preferred by clockmakers trained in the German tradition. Semi-circular cut-outs appear at the bottom of the frame plates. Henry Ober also made at least three weight-driven shelf clocks and at least one miniature tall clock. The case of the shelf clock shown in Figure 2 is primarily cherry with mahogany veneer on the door frame. The wood panel in the door is bird’s eye maple veneer on pine. Noted again are the characteristic turnings and crosshatched plinths of John Smith. | 
| Figure 5, 8-day shelf clock by Henry Ober, c.1830, with seconds and calendar from the center and the moon in the arch. Private collector. |
The smaller movement of this clock, shown on the left in Figure 3, is a miniaturized 8-day tall clock movement, with brass plates and three turned steel frame pillars. It has a recoil escapement located between the plates, but the pendulum is suspended from a single-footed cock mounted on the front of the movement, with a circular brass “Keystone” to clear the center arbor, as on a banjo clock. The movement of a similar and probably earlier clock previously exhibited at the Museum (Figure 5) has the pendulum hung from the back of the movement, requiring access through the backboard of the case. That movement had a deadbeat escapement with seconds and calendar from the center, while the present example has only hour and minute hands. Both movements have the typical Pennsylvania-German strike system, with tailless gathering pallet and rack-hook locking. The weights are compounded and suspended from pulleys at the top of the case and run down the full length. |
