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A Federal Mahogany Tall Case With Rare Astronomical Regulator Clock By Ephraim Niles Byram (1809-1881) Of Sag Harbor, New York
Estimate: $10,000-$20,000
Sold
$37,500
Live Auction
American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts
Description
A Federal Mahogany Tall Case With Rare Astronomical Regulator Clock By Ephraim Niles Byram (1809-1881) Of Sag Harbor, New York
the silvered brass dial engraved "Ephraim Byram/ Sag Harbor."
Height 89 1/2 x width 20 x depth 13 inches.
Condition
includes pendulum, one weight, winding key, case key, and three brass finials,The pine case veneered with mahogany. Finish refreshed. The Face with areas of slight discoloration/ tarnishing. Some blacking to engraved Roman numerals chipped and worn. Hood door frame with horizontal crack to right side near base of arch. There is a corresponding crack to inner face frame. Inner frame with some loss of veneer. Door lock plate probably replaced. Lower case: Waist door with mends to beaded edge top right and left corners. Case has no bottom board. Many holes drilled to backboard and interior surface of backboard scuffed. Old nails affix the chesnut brackets/boards that support saddle board to case. These chestnut boards are seen through the glazed apertures on sides of hood. Case right front corner mid-length has old abrasion with slight veneer loss .Age crack to right side of plinth
Provenance
Provenance:The Collection of Robert K. and Joy Lewis, Sag Harbor, New York.Note:Astronomical regulator clocks were designed for use in precise astrological observation, and fields requiring highly accurate timekeeping. The maker of this clock work,Ephraim Byram, was a self-taught polymath. His expertise included astronomy, woodworking, bookbinding, brass founding, nautical instrument making and repairing and importantly clockmaking. Byram is best remembered for his tower clocks. Examples are found in Sag Harbor's Presbyterian "Old Whaler's" Church and the Methodist Church, as well as New York's City Hall and the West Point Academy old Chapel. A Byram tower clock was discovered in 2004 in St. George, Utah. Byram purportedly made tall case clocks for private clients, but only one is known currently in the collection of the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor. The latter was Ephraim Byram personal clock from 1869.