North Coast Imports, Inc.

This muscial clock is one of the rarest in my collection. First I will describe the clock and its functions, then speak of its history. This special order Musical Flute Clock was made by Emilian Wehrle during the last quarter of the 19th C. The architectural case is a style # 28 in the 1898 Em. Wehrle and Co. Catalog. This case was available in both Oak or Walnut. This example was made in Walnut. The dial is silvered with a brass high polish locking bezel with glass. The hands on this piece are fantastic silvered hands with cherubs spreading their wings. These hands are the identical hands Wehrle also used on the #33 “Scheffel-Uhr”… Wehrle most elaborate and expensive clock. The Clock movement is a large robust brass movement that will run for 8 days on a single winding. The musical function of the clock is a two tune 8 pipe organ. As the organ plays the large double doors open...and a flute player steps forward. After the Organ is finished playing..the dors close, and large 6 tune mu...

The case style of this Beha is done in a very traditional “Postman’s Alarm” style. But clearly it is not your normal Black Forest Clock. A life size 12” cuckoo bird is perched on top of a oak branch that extends out of the top of the dial. This cuckoo is fully automated on the Full and ½ hours. This cuckoo strikes on a large grapefruit size bronze bell with a silvered hammer, a very unique touch to the cuckoo call that sounds more like a English tall case strike than anything out of the Black Forest. The highly polished pendulum, has alternating steel and brass rods, giving it a look of a compensation pendulum used on fine precision pieces. The movement in this clock is a large wood plate cuckoo movement, two train. The strike and the cuckoo are on the same train like most cuckoo clocks. (see an earlier post for our other “Maxi” Beha cuckoo with a unique striking system). Obviously this movement does not have the cuckoo perch mechanics as a cuckoo os not pushed out of a door… but has a...

In a previous post, I summarized the initial results of an analysis being conducted in cooperation with Dr. Martin Wolk regarding the placement of pins and small indentations on the the outer diameter of Angelus count wheels of Beha cuckoo and monk clocks. As the purpose of the pinned positions are well understood to trigger the Angelus ringing automation in the clock, our analysis focused upon less understood intent of the non-functional (unpinned) positions and the horological logic of their pattern. Our basic hypothesis is that, in the cottage Black Forest clock industry of the mid- to late-nineteenth century, there may have been an attempt to gain economies of scale in manufacturing by fabricating clock parts that could be used in multiple applications and clocks. Accordingly, the pattern of the indentations in the Angelus count wheel might represent a series of pre -registered positions that could be drilled, and pinned, to create a wide range of time intervals over which...

This early Black Forest soldier Automaton is another one of our favorite shield clocks in our collection. This clock shows a more primitive style of Black Forest Clock making…and was made in a time before the mass production of the large factories. It was made by the hand of a clock maker, in the Black Forest that took pride in his work. The soldier automaton was a favorite done by the Black Forest clockmakers. While most of these antique soldier clocks that are seen today are incorporated into the shelf cuckoo (and made around the turn of the 19th C)… These early shield variety were made a generation or two earlier, and in much fewer numbers …and are difficult to locate today. This Automaton was made C. 1820. It has a early wood plate, wood spindle movement.. The movement has Time, Strike & Automation. The two trains on this clock are front to back. The clock is in fantastic condition for its age, the soildier cannon...normaly missing or replaced are period. This clock is very ple...

This Beha cuckoo was made C. 1870 in Eisenbach, Schwarzwald. The typical wood plate 8 day double fusee movement is housed in a beautiful round top elongated walnut case. The case is intricately done with fruit wood inlays of oak leaves and acorns both on the base and well at the top. The cuckoo door is also inlaid with flowers and leaves. What makes this Beha special is the full oil painting on zinc or tin. While Beha frequently used paintings on his cuckoo clocks, this was rarely done on the shelf or table examples. These Beha shelf clocks with large oil paintings are prized by collectors worldwide. The painting on the clock is well done. It shows a mother and child on the ground...quietly looking up into the tree at the cuckoo up in the branches. The mother pointing to the cuckoo. This painting was painted by the well known Black Forest painter Carl Heine, of Neustadt (1842-1882). Carl Heine's work almost always includes the tree with the bending trunk, and cuckoo up in the branc...

This next clock in the collection is a Emilian Wehrle Rooster clock. Also known as a "Hahnen-Uhr". The Wehrle Rooster awakes on the hour, or on demand...with three loud distinct calls. Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!!! While Emilian Wehrle was not the inventor of the Rooster clock... he was the first to perfect it. He invented an apparatus that mimics the call of the Rooster without the use of air or horns. Instead Wehrle used a serrated wheel that rides a small metal reed... This friction at variable pressures and speeds creates a correct Rooster call. Emilian Wehrle was issued a patent in 1884 for his design (Apparat Fur Schallerzeugung #32141). Production started shortly after this date. Because of their high cost, and the loud and obnoxious call of the Rooster every hour they were never a success. By Emilian Wehrles death in 1896 very few were made, and even fewer have survived. The Rooster clock is one of the Rarest clocks ever produced by Wehrle...and are almost impossible to fin...

Measuring in at only 3.25 inches from the bottom of the movement to the top of the bell, this clock is the smallest clock in our collection. This miniature, that can easily fit into the palm of your hand... is called a “Sorguhr”. This term refers to miniature clocks patterned after those made by their inventor Joseph Sorg of Neustadt (1807-1872). Joseph Sorg was not only a important clock maker during the first half of the 19th C., but also severed as the Mayor of Neustadt during the early 1850’s. The styles of Sorguhren produced varied greatly. They were made in picture frame style cases..many with hammered brass frames (with or without automation), Biedermeier cases, and the more common shield style with wood or brass faces. There are also known examples cased in miniature granfather style cases no more than 20" high. The example shown here is in the most traditional style. The clock has a round enamel dial… with the hammered brass crest. This example shows an eagle representing...