BOSTON, MA – Skinner, Inc. presents an auction of Clocks, Watches & Scientific Instruments featuring antique tools and diverse scientific apparatus as well as timepieces of all types in its Marlborough Gallery on April 20 at 10AM.
Previews will be held on April 18, 12PM–5PM, April 19, 12PM–7PM, and April 20, 8AM-9:30AM.
The top lot is the imposing 96-inch Tiffany & Co. No. 2 Astronomical Master Regulator (Lot 189, estimate: $100,000-150,000).… Read More
To a small child, the stately “Grandfather clock” standing majestically in the corner more closely resembles a furniture skyscraper than a timekeeper. The iconic term “Grandfather clock” brings to mind antiquity, beautiful furniture, and mechanical marvels. But it is not the way scholars refer to these clocks. In fact, the name came from a popular song.
Henry Clay Work’s “Grandfather’s Clock/Song and Chorus” came out in 1876. To the background sounds of a clock ticking, the four-verse song included the lines: “My Grandfather’s Clock was too large for the shelf, so it stood ninety years on the floor…It was bot’ on the morn of day he was born, and was always his treasure and pride…But the clock stopped short, never to go again when the old man died.” This was a simpler time, without television, computers, or mobile phones to occupy people’s time, and the sheet music for this song sold over 800,000 copies!… Read More