Not a common name, U M Muller made clocks that competed head to head with the best known German clock-makers of the early part of the twentieth century.
The German “box clock” effectively spelled the end of the so called Vienna regulator period because it was cheaper to produce, had simpler lines and appealed to the business middle class consumer of that period, the 1930s.
This U M Muller clock features wood carved inlays on the door, metal dial, wall stabilizers, brass bezel trim, spade and spear hands, beveled glass framed in brass and a fixed wood carved crown.
The oak case is impressive. There are no obvious scratches or blemishes on the case. The clock face, on the other hand, shows blemishes and marks that take away from the excellent overall condition of the clock. There is an abrasion between the 6 and 7 that is worn through to the metal and not fixable.
The movement is a typical rack and snail time and strike. The half hour strike on a coiled gong is loud but not objectionable. Given that is is a spring driven clock it is not expected to be critically accurate but the clock seems to stay fairly “regular” through its full cycle of 8-days.
Cleaning and waxing revealed what it might have looked like when new some 80+ years ago.
UM Muller clocks can be dated by the lion logo on the clock face. If the lion’s tail is up it is pre-1930. The tail is down on this clock and dates it to the mid to late 1930s.
In Schmid’s Lexikon, it states that the original founders of this company in Mühlheim started in 1867. It was acquired by R. Schnekenburger around 1880, then by Gebrüder Müller around 1896 when it became Uhrenfabrik Mühlheim vormals R. Schnekenburger. In 1900 it assumed the name Uhrenfabrik Mühlheim, Müller & Co. or UM Muller
So, a very nice German box clock that sounds great in our kitchen dining area.
Antique and Vintage Clocks 
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