How to Identify Antique Cuckoo Clocks

Cuckoo clocks have a trademark cuckoo bird that appears at the top of each hour. With its famous cuckoo call, the bird announces the time while melodies play and mechanical figures move to the music. Made in the Black Forest of Germany, these clocks are handmade by craftsmen who take great pride in their work. Antique cuckoo clocks can be identified by their intricately carved cases and the wood they are made from.

• Look at the cuckoo clock to determine the type of wood it is made from. Antique clocks were most often produced from walnut or linden. As these materials grow everywhere in the Black Forest, it was a natural choice for the base material, especially years ago when it would have been more difficult to import other types of wood into the area. Antique clocks were entirely hand-carved, and all of the painting done on them would have been done by hand.


• Search for cuckoo clocks that resemble small houses with pitched roofs. These clocks are fairly square in shape, and resemble mid-19th century buildings that could be commonly seen alongside the German railroads at the time. Cuckoo clocks that were simply cases with a clock face in the center represent another antique clock style that was popular back then. Both of these styles were produced during the 1850's through the 1880's, and they are considered to be the most valuable cuckoo clocks, as far as collectors are concerned. Antique clocks from this time period also have hand-painted designs on either side of the clock face. Often times, intricate carvings that depicted things found in the Black Forest, such as ivy, birds, animals and flowers, would decorate the front of the clock as well. The carvings of older clocks were never painted, so that the beauty of the wood could always be seen.


• Start the clock by using a winding mechanism. Antique clocks would have pine cone-shaped lead weights, which hung from chains, as part of the operating movement. In order for the clock to keep running, the chains were wound back up by hand. This would need to be done every 24 hours.


• Observe the tiny mechanical figures on the cuckoo clock. These figures would look like miniature replicas of the people who lived in the Black Forest during the early days. Children in traditional dress, soldiers, beer drinkers and even dancers in costumes were common figures used to decorate antique clocks. The movement of these figures were often synched with melodies to depict a particular event or scene being portrayed by the figures.