Conservation of the Tall Clock Case from Primitive Hall of the Pennock Family
This tall case clock now belongs to Primitive Hall Foundation (P.O. Box 489, Unionville PA, 19375). In September, 2018, Wendy Cooper, curator of Primitive Hall, sent the clock case to WUDPAC for treatment, as my second year major project, supervised by Mark Anderson.
Perspective, before treatment
Historical Background
As the late 19th century label pasted inside the door of the clock states:
“This clock was placed in Primitive Hall, the Ancestral Home of the Pennock family sometime after it was built in 1738 by Joseph Pennock who settled in West Marlborough Township, Chester Co., Pennsylvania. It has come down in direct line to the present owner Charles A. Pennock. The weights were buried during the American Revolution under the brick pavement in the Hall.”
George Crow (working 1744-1762), was the maker of the brass dial movement. Working in Wilmington, Delaware, he was a likely choice as a clockmaker for Joseph Pennock since Wilmington was the closest urban area with highly skilled craftsmen. Furthermore, Joseph had connections there through the marriage of his oldest child, Elizabeth, to Edward Tatnall. Movements by George Crow are reasonably rare.
Joseph Pennock built his large brick house in 1738, and by the mid-nineteenth century his descendants named it Primitive Hall, probably because it was the family’s first home. Pennock was sixty-one at the time he built this substantial home, and as a wealthy landowner he no doubt wanted the most up to date and fashionable tall clock he could buy.However, it is puzzling that he probably had the unusual case made in his local area by an anonymous cabinetmaker.In addition, the case has suffered with its descent through the family and its travels across the country to and from various situations. (Cooper, 2018)
Overall Description:
This Queen-Anne walnut tall case clock is in a concise form, with arched dial, bracket feet, sarcophagus top and finials. The side light is built with architectural moldings. The general form is consistent with the period style. However, the joints of the side finials and sarcophagus top are unusual. The miter joint of the sarcophagus top was visually broken with crude gouged out excavations to follow the shape of finials. The decorative veneers of the frieze and spandrels showing curly maple and crotch grain cherry are also inconsistent with its period style. The base panel is joined by three sections, which is usually a solid panel or “book-matched” two board panel the norm at that time. Inside the hood, there are several notched marks of “up” “Front Face” “Left Face” “Right Face” on related panels, possibly indicating the hood was taken apart and restored in the past.
Seven samples were taken from the top to the base for cross-section analysis. There is only a thin layer of synthetic resin on the wood substrate and penetrating into the wood, which has strong pale blue fluorescence under UV light, indicating the original coating was stripped. No evidence to reveal the replaced components.
Condition
The clock case is in fair condition overall. The main issues are structural damage/instability, dissociation of the components and surface staining.
Hood:
The hood is stable in general. However, some components, such as the decorative veneers of the frieze, spandrels and sarcophagus top, and finials are dissociated from the hood due to the failure of adhesive or joint. Several campaigns of repair with adhesive and nails can be seen from the dissociation. There are many small nail/pin holes near the joints all over the case, some are still with nails or pins, which are likely to be the previous repair work. Some thin components, like the moldings and curved surfaces, are split, cracking, or even broken, due to the weakness of material.
Waist section:
The waist section is in poor condition overall. Major damage like cracks and losses lie in the thin curved moldings, especially in the waist molding that joins the base. The side waist moldings are poorly replaced and joined to the curve ones. All moldings were reglued and modified in previous repairs.
Base section:
The poor condition of the base section directly leads to the unstable structure. The side boards of the base seem to be cut and all weight concentrates on the bracket feet. The side bracket feet dissociated from the main structure. The base panel separated into three sections.
Full condition report and treatment proposal, please click here
Treatment
Purpose:
The clock is planned to be consistently on display in Primitive Hall, thus treatment is aimed at reducing damages or previous restorations that are visually distracting, reinforcing its structural integrity, and preventive care.
Reversing Poor Repairs/restoration
Removing of old glue residue (animal glue and PVA) with 5% Laponite in de-ionized water, for rejoining.
Pulling out failed nails and dismantling unstable components/repairs for rejoining
Structural Treatment/reinforcement
Aesthetic Enhancement
The RIGHT form
The finials, frieze, spandrels and three sections of the base panel are special, rare, or even unique, inconsistent with the period. These unusual features possibly indicate historical restorations and modifications. In order to aesthetically minimize these visual defects caused by poor repairs/restoration, we’re trying to figure out the RIGHT form for the clock case through looking at other G.Crow’s works. (Courtesy of Decorative Arts Photographic Collection, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library)
Inspired by other Crow’s works, we came up with two assumptions might reveal the original look of the clock.
Before treatment Assumption 1 Assumption 2
In order to minimize the later modification and restoration, to reveal the original appearance of the clock, our assumptions provided us three choices for treatment. Choice 1 retains the finials and the gouged-out excavation, only tone the decorative panel of the frieze into similar color of walnut, as well as the other two choices. Choice 2 requires filling of the excavation, extension of the plinth, and shape it to fit the sarcophagus top and avoid structural conflict. Choice 3 takes off the side finials, and fills in the gouged-out corners. After discussion, Choice 3 was chosen since it reverses the improper gouging of the corners of the sarcophagus top, requires acceptable workload and time, and gives the clock a proper and better form.
Filling the gouged-out corners of the sarcophagus top
Reducing iron staining, supervised by Richard C. Wolbers.
Remove varnish with:
100ml deionized water, 0.5g Citric acid, 0.5g Boric acid
Adjust pH to 8.5 with 5M NaOH solution
in 2% Xanthan gel with 10% benzyl alcohol
Reduce staining with:
100ml deionized water, 0.5g Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), 0.5g Boric acid
Adjust pH to 8.5 with 5M NaOH solution
in 2% Xanthan gel
Loss compensation
Wood fills with Modostuc for the bracket feet
Wood fills with Araldite and Modostuc for the side waist moldings, rough shaping, and reproduce the waist decorative moldings
Gluing the side waist moldings back with hide glue and Araldite, filling the small loss area with wood and Araldite, and fine shaping
Wood fills with Araldite and Modostuc for the center waist moldings
Inpainting with Gamblin conservation pigment, Laropol as binding medium, isopropanol as thinner
Revarnishing with shellac
For the waist moldings
For the sarcophagus top, saturated original wood a little bit with isopropanol during inpainting to get right final color to match
Revarnishing the filling corner and connecting original wood with shellac, adjust the inpainting under different light conditions
Regluing the dissociated components back with hide glue (192g), filling the minor losses with Araldite and Modostuc, and inpainting
Reproduction of the escutcheon
Chose a concise and plain style
Making Box for Storage of the Finials
Placed inside the base section.
After Treatment
