Expert: John Newman - 3/22/2010

Question
QUESTION: I recently purchased this "Lodeson" mantel and am attempting to research its maker %26 place of origin without much success. The name on the face is "Lodeson", the movement has no markings other than the number "13".  The case is 28"x10"x5.5" and in very good shape with no delaminating and minimal spidering in the finish.

I'm guessing that the case maker put the name "Lodeson" on it at the request of a seller of furniture possibly. The name "Lodeson" is Scandinavian in origin so at first I thought that might be where the clock came from, now I'm not so sure. I am also making the assumption that the number "13" stamped on the back plate of the movement refers to the year in which the movement was manufactured or originally designed, true/false?

I have no information on the original owner of this clock. I purchased it from an antique store in southeast Texas. All they could tell me is that it came from an auction (estate). A lot of the furniture in this area in antique stores came from Europe in the late 19th %26 early 20th centuries with the majority of it originating in Germany and France.

I have additional photos of the movement which I can send to you if you like.

Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to provide.

Joe

ANSWER: Joe, the case of the clock looks German.  I am not familiar with the name "Lodeson".  However, usually the name on the dial would usually be the name of the company that manufactured the clock.  It could have manufactured the movement (not probable, as I have never heard of a movement manufacturer) or bought it from a movement manufacturer (more likely).  I will check with my Internet Clocksmiths Group and see if anyone knows of this name.  If I find anything, I will follow up on this question.

John Newman
THE VILLAGE CLOCKSMITH
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: John,

Thanks so much for your reply. I guess I did leave out something rather important. I had a question regarding this posted on a clock forum and got one response. It was a link to a "Koch" clock which was 90 percent identical to this one. The face on the "Koch" was identical in every detail except the name. The case only lacked most of the molding, but the dimensions and veneer were the same. The movement was a Jauch. This is what led me to believe that this case had a Jauch movement in it.

Again, I appreciate your help.

Joe

Answer
After looking at the photo with the movement, I do not think this is a Jauch.  As I had mentioned before, companies producing clocks did use different movements at times.  Usually the mounting might require some revisions such as chime rod locations and winding arbor holes in the dials.

John Newman
THE VILLAGE CLOCKSMITH
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama