While waiting for movement parts I continued to work on the case of this antique Canadian cottage clock from the mid 1880s. The dial needs attention and in this article I will describe the procedures for in-painting the numerals and decorative elements.

Decorative hand-painted antique dials need attention from time to time. Through environment and use they become victims of wear and neglect. Stabilizing and restoring dials maintains the value of the clock. In-painting involves filling areas of loss, cleaning, colour matching, repairing graphics and decorative art work.

The Canada Clock Co.

The Canada Clock Company in its three iterations made clocks in Ontario, Canada between 1872 and 1884. The Canada Clock Co, the Hamilton Clock Co. and then Canada Clock Co. (redux) struggled over a 12 year period to put Canada on the clock-making map. Ultimately their efforts failed. Nonetheless, there are plenty of fine examples that have survived to this day.

I found this interesting example in an antique shop in downtown Truro, Nova Scotia. The model is called Hamilton Cottage Extra.

First look

This is the dial when I first saw it. It is unsightly and distracting. Severe flaking over a good portion of the dial surface plus an attempt to repaint the numbers by a past owner presented a challenge for restoration.

Continue reading “Canada Clock Co. Hamilton Cottage Extra – dial in-painting” →