Ansonia clock is not rare, but it has value

DEAR HELAINE AND JOE: Please find photo enclosed of a clock that belonged to my grandmother. It is ceramic and it is marked "Ansonia Clock Co. New York" and it has an "A" inside a square inside a diamond. I do not know whether or not it works because I do not have a key. I would appreciate knowing the history and value of this clock. Sincerely. - M. B., Girard, Ga.

DEAR M. B.: We have discussed the Ansonia Clock Company in this space before but not in conjunction with a clock in a china case. There is no question that Ansonia made the clock works found in this piece, but there is also no question that they did not make the ceramic case that houses the clock works.

In the mid-1840s, Anson G. Phelps built a copper rolling mill at a place near Derby, Conn., that he named after himself: Ansonia. When he decided to start a clock-making business in 1850, his partners were the famous clock maker, Eli Terry, and Franklin C. Andrews.

Despite at least one fire, the company remained at Ansonia until 1878, when it was moved to Brooklyn, N.Y. In the late 1880s, another fire destroyed the Brooklyn facility, but the company again rebuilt and expanded. After the end of World War I, however, the quality of Ansonia's clocks began to deteriorate and the company began to manufacture fewer and fewer clocks each year until they went out of business in 1929 - some months before the stock market crash that same year that brought on the Great Depression.

The number of clocks that Ansonia made during its almost 80 years of existence is staggering, and the "A" inside a square inside a diamond logo described by M. B. is one of the most commonly seen trademarks found on American clocks. Among other things, Ansonia made fancy crystal regulator clocks, clocks under glass domes, statue shelf clocks, bedside alarm clocks, mantel clocks with cases made from iron and other metals, mahogany cased cabinet clocks, calendar shelf cocks, steeple clocks, shelf clocks with walnut or oak cases, and a huge variety of novelty wall and shelf clocks.

M. B. did not tell us the dimensions of her clock, but if it is in the neighborhood of 9 by 9 inches it would be a china cased mantel clock. A somewhat smaller case would indicate that this is a china cased dresser clock.

Ansonia marketed a great number of this type of clock. They typically imported the ceramic cases from German manufacturers such as Royal Bonn, which is more correctly called the Franz Anton Mehlem Earthenware Factory. It was located in Bonn from 1836 to 1920, and the firm generally marked their products with a backstamp that included the words "Royal Bonn."

This mark is very apparent on most of their pieces and the fact that M. B. does not mention it in her letter leads us to believe that this particular china case was not made by this factory. The case for this clock was probably made by some other German pottery maker, whose identity we may never know.

Collectors tend to pay a small premium for china cased mantel clocks in "Royal Bonn" cases, but the one in today's question is very attractive and is somewhat desirable because of the heavy use of cobalt blue around the edges and gilt accents. If it is a mantel clock (and we are fairly sure it is) and in good working order, the insurance replacement value is between $500 and $650.

(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of the "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Questions can be mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.)

SHNS