Anyone who is interested in antique furniture will recognize the shelf clock shown in Figs. 19 and 20. The design was made and perfected by Eli Terry, one of the most noted of the early clock makers in Connecticut.

Terry's "pillar-and-scroll" shelf clock was first made in 1814. Seth Thomas, another clock maker, paid Terry one thousand dollars for the right to use this design. The first year the shelf clocks were put on the market these two nun made more than six thousand of them. The selling price was fifteen dollars each.

Genuine Terry shelf clocks are not easy to purchase because their owners prize them highly. It is interesting to see the number of reproductions on sale in the stores, but the copies are as a rule about one half the size of this one. Even so, the effect is pleasing, and anyone interested in this design can make the case half size if he wishes.

The clock movement should be an eight-day wind. The dial, of thin wood or metal, measures 11½ in square. One can be made by pasting a piece of the finest white drawing paper on a sheet of zinc and doing the necessary drawing in India ink with compasses and rule. In each corner a small floral decoration in colors should be added. This trouble, however, may be avoided, for dials, pictures, brass ornaments, mahogany veneer, and pillars can be purchased at reasonable cost.

Materials For Clock Case

The picture in the space below the dial was always painted directly on the glass. A colored picture of Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home, is well adapted for this style of clock.

The making of the case is easy and the materials 3 should not be difficult to obtain. Your lumber dealer can obtain the veneer for you, if he does not have it in stock. Ask for three-ply 3/8-in. stock.

Fig. 20. - Measured drawings of a genuine Eli Terry pillar-and-scroll shelf clock made about 1814. The wood used is mahogany, except for a few hidden blocks.

In making any clock, particularly one of this type, it is advisable to purchase the movement before beginning to construct the case. On the drawing and in the bill of material the width of the sidepieces is given as 4 in. This was the width of the sidepicces on the original clock, but it does not provide a sufficient depth for present-day movements. Obviously, the easiest way to obtain sufficient depth is to increase the dimension to 5 in., but that will not satisfy the craftsman who wishes to make a perfectly proportioned reproduction.

Another way to gain more space is to cut through the back to make an opening into which the movement can project. Additional clearance can be obtained by adding a wooden rim of the necessary thickness around the opening at the rear. After the works are in position, this opening can be covered with a sheet of zinc.

Prepare two pieces ¾ by 4 by 21 in. for the side of the case. If you use %-in. veneer you will have to glue additional stock on the inside surface to make up the ¾-in. thickness. Some work can be saved by purchasing a small amount of ¾-in. veneer for the case sides and door. Notice that the front edges of these pieces are cut away for the door and a similar groove or rabbet is made for the insertion of the backboard. The front edge is rounded over slightly.

3A list of dealers in clock movements, dials, ornaments, veneer, and other Supplies can be obtained upon request from the Information Department of Popular Science Monthly.

The top board of the case and the base are doweled or pinned to the sides, but screws at the top and bottom are better. The top board is also rounded over. The baseboard is made of pine with a molding fastened to the front edge and the ends.

At each corner and at the top is a wooden block 1 by 1 by 1 3/16 in.and in the center is a third piece 1 by 1 by 3 in. Between them is the scroll, made of 3/8-in. mahogany veneer. Under the baseboard are the base scrolls, which are made in three parts of the same material. The corners are mitered and a number of pine blocks or cleats are glued in the angles for additional strength. Cut away or bevel the inside edges of all the scrolls, a ¼in. bevel being about right.

The pillars are plain except for the caps at the top and bottom. Each one is set in place near the front edge.

The door is made of %-in. stock with mitered corner joints. Note the direction of the grain of the face veneer. The door hinges are unique - merely two small pieces of brass made as shown and fastened to the door as at A on the drawing. A small roundhead brass nail or screw is used as a pivot.

The three ornaments should be of brass and similar to the design shown. Copies are available, but some readers may prefer to turn a pattern and have castings made. Fairly good-looking ornaments can be turned on the lathe and the wood gilded to imitate brass.

At the back edge of the case behind the pillars are two thin strips of wood 5/16 by 1 ½ by 21 in. In the original clock some thin strips of wood are fastened inside to support the works and dial.

In finishing or staining the case, do not use a red mahogany stain. A brown shade is far better and more like the original case. The front surface of the three blocks at the top is almost black in color, offering a pleasing contrast with the scroll material. Terry also made these clocks with the posts veneered with satinwood or maple.

One coat of brown mahogany oil stain (not varnish stain), followed by a wash coat of thin shellac and two coats of varnish, will prepare the clock for use.