Tick-Talk Tuesday is dedicated to addressing readers’ letters and comments related to clock issues, challenges, and recommendations for specific clocks. In cases where the comments and questions are particularly challenging, I seek advice from my fellow clock enthusiasts to provide the most accurate and helpful response.
SS writes
Hi Ron. My name is SS
I’m writing from Quebec, Canada
My mother in law gave me this clock before she passed. A while ago.
I’ve been doing some research to see who would appreciate this clock and what is the value.
I’ve been looking on sites but I don’t see this original shape. I was wondering if it would be possible to give me an idea of the value and who to sell it too.
Thanks SS
Arthur Pequegnat fan-topRear of clock showing partial label
My Reply:
Thanks for your email, SS. I am just back from vacation and catching up on email queries, so, I apologize for the delay.
What you have is a clock made by the Pequegnat Clock Company of Kitchener Ontario. It is a clock that is part of their Maple Leaf series of kitchen clocks. Here is an article I wrote earlier this year describing clocks in the Maple Leaf series.
Most clock enthusiasts have at least one kitchen clock in their collection and some collect them exclusively. I am not a huge fan of them but they very popular and considered important clocks because of their relatively low cost and availability.
Thousands of inexpensive oak-cased clocks were made by various American and Canadian manufacturers in the late 19th Century to the early part of the 20th Century. They are cheap, plentiful, reliable and easy to regulate.
They were typically sold in box lots of a half a dozen or so to merchants and offered for sale to customers for a unit price of around $4.50.
Although commonly called the kitchen clock it is sometimes called the pressed wood clock.
The designs were created by using high pressure rotary presses on oak wood that had been pre-steamed to soften it. The front of the clocks frequently displayed glass tablets with bronze or silver gilt designs.
This Arthur Pequegnat Canuck clock (above) is a typical pressing with floral designs on the top crown, base, and side columns, two upper rosettes and a framed access door with a floral style glass tablet.
Pressing designs into wood was much less expensive and quicker than machine carving, though the designs tended to be taken to excess at times like we see on this Sessions Grand Assortment with a top heavy ornate crown.
Sessions Grand Assortment
American manufacturers offered kitchen clocks with slight variations in the configuration of the case components and the decoration on the glass panel. It was common to name or number the clocks and present them as part of a series.
All kitchen clocks were 8-day running and featured either a one piece or two-piece 6-inch painted dial with Roman or Arabic numerals, railroad track minute chapter ring, and blued moon shaped or spade hands. A pendulum regulated the timing. The clocks included a half-hour strike on a bell or a coiled gong and some were offered with both bell on the half-hour strike and coiled gong on the hour. Additional features such as an alarm added pennies to the cost.
With inexpensive changes in the design for the press and minor changes to the case elements, clocks of different designs could be produced. Design elements for the pendulum varied between a plain round bob to a decorative pendulum bob in many pressed wood kitchen clocks.
Steam pressed designs were not confined to kitchen clocks and quickly found their way to wall clocks like the Gilbert Admiral.
Gilbert Admiral drop octagon wall clock
I have about 100 clocks in my collection and only two are steam-pressed. It is not a style that I am actively seeking but, admittedly, some are attractive. They are easy enough to find, fairly cheap and are relatively uncomplicated to service.
On the bench is an Arthur Pequegnat time and strike kitchen clock which is part of the popular Maple Leaf series produced up to 1941. Among collectors it is know as the “Pointed Top”. This Canadian made clock was bought at an antique store in Bloomfield, Ontario the summer of 2018 and presumably spent its life in or around the Toronto area.
The Arthur Pequegnat Clock Co. made clocks in Kitchener, Ontario (Canada) from 1904 to 1941. Canadian clock collectors are very familiar with the name and associate Pequegnat clocks with solid construction, robust movements, conservative designs and nationalism since many clocks were named after towns and cities in Canada.
Pequegnat made mantel, shelf, hall clocks (Tall case) and wall clocks mostly of oak though some were mahogany veneered. The Kitchen clock or gingerbread clock as it is often called was very popular at the time and Pequegnat made an effort to keep up with current styles with a range called the Maple Leaf. There were six versions of the Maple Leaf clock made by the Arthur Pequegnat Clock Co. Though the dimensions are similar they share two unique characteristics; all Maple Leaf’s have the distinctive maple leaf tablet and Maple Leaf pendulum. It is Pequegnat’s interpretation of a truly Canadian clock styled after similar American ones.
I always make it a point to mark the time side wheel and mainspring so as not to confuse the two
It is a distinctive Arthur Pequegnat movement with nickel-plated steel plates (confirmed with a magnet) and brass bushings pressed into the plates. Unlike most Pequegnat movements this one is unmarked. Because of the shortage of brass after the First World War, Pequegnat used steel for their plates but with pressed brass bushing inserts. There must have been a cut-off date when Pequegnat switched from brass to steel plates so, this movement may have been made during the transition period at or around 1916.
Nickel-plated steel plates
Not surprisingly it had been worked on in the past. One escape wheel bushing on the front plate has ugly punch marks around it made while a past repairer attempted to close a pivot hole. In the process the pivot was bent. Upon closer inspections there are dients on the top of the pivot.
Ugly punch marks around escape wheel pivot hole
Otherwise there appears to be an average amount of wear for its age. I corrected one small issue right away; the half hour strike arm was loose in the arbour and had turned to one side. I oriented it to the correct position and secured it with Lock-Tite.
Disassembly and assessment
Ah, but I discovered another reason why the strike arm was loose. While the time side requires at least 5 or 6 bushings due to excessive wear, the strike side has almost no wear at all. I can only surmise that the strike side was seldom wound. It makes perfect sense that the half-hour strike arm was twisted out of the way so as not to make any sound at all.
Overall, less bushing work for me but as far as I am concerned both sides are meant to run and they will.
Broken pressure washer on the count wheel
Though still usable the pressure washer on the count wheel is broken.
Bushing work
I thought I would tackle the worst bushing first, the escape wheel, back plate. First, to straighten the bent pivot. I put the wheel in the chuck of my mini lathe and gave the wheel a few spins. Yes, definitely bent.
Bent pivot
Using a punch I inserted the hollow end into the pivot and determined where I had to bend it by giving it a few more slow spins on the lathe. It is soft steel and bends easily.It is important not to be too aggressive as the pivot can snap off. Installing a new pivot is not fun!
Using a hollow end punch to straighten a pivot
Once straightened I gave it a good polish.
Polishing the pivot with an emery board
It is worth mentioning that on this movement the time side mainspring is 17.2 mm high while the strike side is 15.6mm; not the first time I have seen a differential on movement such as this. I always make it a point to mark the time side wheel and mainspring so as not to confuse the two.
Now it is on to cleaning, pivot polishing, bushing work and testing which will be discussed in Part II.
Pequegnat was in the business of making clocks in Kitchener, Canada for over 35 years, 1903 to 1941. Unfortunately the shortage of brass during World War II was the death knell for this company. Pequegnat clocks are sought after by Canadian clock collectors and command higher than average prices, in Canada at least. The best collection of Pequegnat clocks can be found at the Canadian Clock Museum in Deep River, Ontario.
This article concerns the servicing of a typical Pequegnat time and strike movement. By typical I mean that most time and strike movements have steel plates with brass bushing inserts pressed into the plates. This was a working clock when I got it but I knew that there had to be wear issues that needed to be addressed.
This movement comes out of a Canuck.
Arthur Pequegnat Canuck gingerbread clock
The Canuck is a gingerbread style clock, not particularly sought after by collectors but an attractive clock for the kitchen or the dining area.
Time and strike movement
I began with revitalizing the case which meant giving all the oak surfaces a good cleaning followed by two coats of shellac. The dial was in poor condition and I considered an aftermarket dial but in the end decided to try a little inpainting with good results.
Before (inset) and after clock dial
Pequegnat movements with steel plates are nickle plated. Most of the plating has worn off on this movement so while it make look dirty after cleaning it is simply tarnished. The movement is well constructed with 4 cut pinions and 6 lantern pinions. I am going out on a limb here but I have worked on a lot of similar American movements and this movement, in my view, is better designed in many ways.
Dirty and tarnished but in good shape otherwise
I do not not believe this movement has ever been worked on. I see no evidence of past repairs and/or adjustments which is a good thing because undoing previous bad work can be very frustrating. There is some bushing wear as expected, but the pivots, cut pinions and lantern pinions are all in excellent condition.
All wheels minus the hammer and lever
The time side required 4 new bushings, T2F, T3F, T4F and T4R. The strike side required one bushing, T3F. There is plenty of power left in the mainsprings which were cleaned and oiled. Otherwise, the movement was dirty, though I have seen far worse. My ultrasonic took care of most of the dirt and grime but the wheels benefited from additional hand cleaning.
Getting everything working nicely when all is back together is more luck than skill. The strike side did not lock as it should but I decided to test the time side for a few days before opening up the plates to move the stop wheel into its correct position. Everything is working now.
On the test stand
A nice little project and while I would not say it was brought back to life it is completely serviced and will run for many years to come.
In light of current world events the antiquevintageclock.com family wish to convey our sympathy and condolences to those effected by Covid 19
There are a fair number of Canadian clock enthusiasts that have various sized collections of Pequegnat clocks. Skip Kerr‘s extensive collection immediately comes to mind.
Although my collection is modest by comparison with just eight Arthur Pequegnat Canadian-made clocks they cover a range of models from kitchen to wall clocks.
The Arthur Pequegnat Clock Company was in business in Berlin, later renamed, Kitchener, Ontario (Canada) from 1904 to about 1941. Pequegnat clocks are well known among Canadian Clock collectors. Many are still running today and they can be easily found on local and national online for-sale sites and you might even find them on the northern border states of the US.
Here they are; I will let the captioned photos speak for themselves.
Arthur Pequegnat Maple Leaf kitchen clock, otherwise known as the “Fan top”
Arthur Pequegnat Bedford mantel clock (variant with larger dial)
Arthur Pequegnat Simcoe mantel clock, Berlin period
Arthur Pequegnat Canadian Time (time-only) wall clock
Arthur Pequegnat Brandon (second version)
Arthur Pequegnat Canuck kitchen clock (otherwise known as a gingerbread clock)
Arthur Pequegnat Kitchen clock, Maple Leaf, otherwise known among collectors as the “pointed top”
Arthur Pequegnat Moncton, double spring time-only 15-day clock, post-Berlin (after 1917)
My journey goes on as I continue to purchase Pequegnat clocks adding them to my collection. I have yet to secure a tambour style clock and a Regulator #1 is certainly on the top of my list.
Hi readers, in light of current world events the antiquevintageclock.com family wish to convey our sympathy and condolences to those effected by Covid 19
I have a total of eight Arthur Pequegnat clocks in my collection. The newest, an Arthur Pequegnat Canuck is not exactly my favorite though it is not unattractive for a gingerbread clock. The company made a range of kitchen clocks but I have seen very few in the true gingerbread style, such as this one.
The clock runs well though it will certainly need servicing
Few are offered on online for-sale sites so it is quite possible that not many of them have survived over the years. Collectors would often pass them up as most other Pequegnat clocks are considered more desirable and valuable.
I frequently take photos of clocks in antique stores. If asked I say that I have a friend who is looking for that exact clock and I usually get away with it. In Ladysmith, British Columbia I came across a Canadian clock that I have never seen before. On the bottom of the dial it says “Mfg Par Aro Inc Canada”.
Who or what is Aro? I could find very little information. They were evidently based in the province of Quebec and likely the city of Montreal. My research tells me that they made two styles of clocks in the 1960s. This one, a kitchen clock and a schoolhouse clock.
Clock with inscription “Mfg Par Aro”
Both have 8 day Japanese trapezoid open plate time-only movements.
I do not come across many antique E Ingraham & Co. clocks and have just one other in my collection, the Huron from 1878, but I came across another recently that I found in a local antique shop. The price was right so, I snapped it up. The”S” shaped logo on the dial led me to assume it was a Sessions, but it was not – I’ll get to that later.
Rare Ingraham Huron balloon style clock in Rosewood
This is a parlour clock. It might have been described in company advertising as a kitchen clock. Some even refer to it as a gingerbread. There are a number of terms used when describing clocks of this style and the three names are used interchangeably by sellers on online for-sale sites and antique stores.
E Ingraham parlour clock circa 1897, sitting in an antique shop
One of the few clocks that I have had professionally serviced is an Arthur Pequegnat kitchen clock (Fan Top). In the early days of clock collecting and repair I had not acquired the necessary skills and experience to perform my own work and had some of my special clocks serviced by a skilled clock-maker. I consider this Arthur Pequegnat “fan-top” kitchen clock, a special clock.
The following comments are not a reflection of the work done by a professional clock repair shop. I consider the clock-maker who performed the service on this clock to be highly competent and I would recommend them to anyone but mechanical clocks can be very temperamental at times.
Arthur Pequegnat kitchen clock commonly known as a “Fan Top”
Two years after the clock was serviced, it stopped. It shouldn’t have! I considered all of the possibilities including weak mainsprings, bushing issues, bent, twisted or torn suspension spring and bent wheels to name a few.
Antique and Vintage Mechanical Clocks 
You must be logged in to post a comment.