Clocks · Clock
Chelsea Cabinet no. 19 Ships Bell Clock, circa 1927
- Maker / attribution
- Chelsea Clock Company (maker)
- Date
- c. 1927
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- bronze, metal
- Auction house
- LiveAuctioneers auction archive
- Lot
- Item 202330484
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 282, APRIL 2025 TIMEPIECES, SILVER & ANTIQUES, Luxe Auctioneers, Inc (2025), via LiveAuctioneers
- Catalogue title (original)
- CHELSEA CABINET NO. 19 SHIPS BELL CLOCK, CIRCA 1927 (English)
View the source record (auction lot) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 202330484), this is a clock by Chelsea Clock Company, made in United States, dated c. 1927. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: bronze, metal. The record is illustrated with 4 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Lot description — Luxe Auctioneers, Inc
Chelsea Clock Co. for Abercrombie and Fitch Co. Cabinet No. 19 model mantle clock with “A” polished bronze finish case. The clock has the plain silvered metal dial with black painted Arabic numerals and ships bell strike 8 day movement. The dial is signed Abercrombie and Fitch Co. New York and Chelsea Ships Bell. The clock has an approx. 4-1/4 inch dial and measures approx. 9 inches x 7-1/4 inches. The clock has a presentation inscription from 1927 on the top of the case. Reference: Catalog #1064 Dial: silvered metal signed Chelsea and countersigned by retailer. Movement: 8 day ships bell Case: polished bronze Size: 9 inches x 7-1/4 inches Signed: Dial Box: No Papers: No Accessories: Associated key
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
Between 1900 and 1945 clocks were electrified: master-clock systems ran factories and offices, synchronous mains clocks entered homes, and the Shortt free-pendulum clock set new standards of accuracy before the first quartz clocks (1927). Art Deco design reshaped mantel and table clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Domestic clocks
A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.
Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.
What to look for
- How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
- The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
- Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
- The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
- Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.
Dating clues
- Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
- Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
- Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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