Incollect Magazine - Issue 2

Incollect Magazine 89 2022 the metal inlay on the case was brass or gilt silver. This was primarily due to the deterioration of a tinted finish coating applied in 1971 during a previous restoration that had darkened with age. During the recent treatment, this finish was selectively removed, revealing pewter inlay and stringing. The silver color of the pewter presents a greater contrast with the surrounding wood than the previous orange tinted coating and aides in establishing the original appearance of the case (Figs. 6, 7). The case housing Hoff’s clock is elaborately inlaid with lightwood crossbanding (possibly locust) and pewter. Crossbanded wood inlay on the hood, pendulum door, and base panel is outlined with pewter stringing. Pewter rings adorn the turned balusters of the hood. The date in the arch of the hood was created by pouring molten pewter into numerals carved into the wood. The case is made of diverse hardwoods of a variety of hues. The framing members of the front of the case, the pendulum door, base panel, sides of the upper section of the hood, the lower moulding of the hood, and the upper and lower trunk mouldings are black cherry. The sides of the lower section of the hood, sides of the trunk and the base, and the base moulding and feet are red mulberry. The corner columns on the trunk and base are made of black walnut. The wood species of the columns on the door of the hood was at first difficult to identify. Microscopic analysis confirmed it to be a species in the genus Prunus , possibly black cherry, but is atypical with more numerous and wider rays that may have been stress induced during the tree’s growth. The color of the columns is lighter than that of the black cherry of the rest of the case and they were clearly chosen for their unusual appearance and light color (Fig. 5). The effect of the contrasting colors of the different wood species was much more striking originally than it appears today as the colors have faded toward a similar reddish/ brown hue due to oxidation of the wood surfaces. An unknown woodworker combined the orange tint of black cherry, the deep red of mulberry, the dark brown of black walnut, the light hued atypical cherry with an elaborate scheme of inlaid lightwood crossbanding outlined with Above, clockwise from left: Fig. 5: Detail of the hood of the clock and case illustrated in fig. 1. Photo by author. Fig. 6: Detail of the hood during treatment to remove a discolored coating applied in 1971. Photo by author. Fig. 7: Detail of the hood after treatment. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.