Fontaine Antique Auction Gallery

Top Five Clocks of June 14, 2008 Auction 1. E. Howard #61 Astronomical Floor Regulator w/ mercury pendulum. 2. E. Howard #1 weight-driven Banjo Clock. These are becoming increasingly rare, and are technically a Howard & Davis production, meaning that they pre-date the firm’s dissolution in 1857. 3. French Industrial Steam Engine Clock 4. Elmer O. Stennes Girandole weight-driven Banjo. Clockmaker who began as a cabinet maker and took the movements for his clocks from salvaged E. Howard, and Chelsea regulators. Renown for the ‘bee’ on the tablet, and often sought after for the notoriety associated with the maker. Sentenced for killing his second wife, suspected of killing his first wife, and murdered in bed with his third wife. 5. English Rolling Ball Clock by Dent of London. A modern version of a Victorian Congreve Clock, named for Sir William Congreve who invented a new type of rolling ball clock in the early 19th century. The major difference from former models was the zig-zag motion of the ball, versus the traditional fixed-incline movement. Edward John Dent was the founder and master craftsman until his death in 1853. Since the early 1950’s, the family has died off and the company is now E. Dent & Co. Ltd.