Re: Clay Organ Clock
By Frank Metzger
Mr. Perretti's interesting story about the Clay organ clock once again indicates that there are still many rare pieces to be rediscovered. Here is some information that may help him.
1. Arthur Ord Hume has written extensively about Clay organ clocks and may indeed have been involved of the example which is in the Royal collection in Windsor Castle. A number of his books have photos of Clay clocks and he will, I am sure, be willing to make these available. Probably, he'd even like to be a consultant on the restoration! Arthur can be reached at
Arthur W.J.G. Ord Hume,
24 Sheperds Lane,
Guilford, Surrey GU2 6SL,
England
tel/fax: 1483-574460.
2. Dr. Jan Jaap Haspels is a world-renowned expert on organ music and mechanical organ clocks and has written extensively about them. I know that he has photographs and details about Clay clocks. He is very helpful, especially in person (often he is too busy to write). It would probably be worthwhile for Mr. Perretti to speak to him on the phone (fluent English, I think some Italian too) and try to get some help that way.
Dr. Jan Jaap Haspels, Director/Curator
Nationaal Museum van speelklok tot pierement
Buurkerk, Buurkerkhof 10
3511 KC Utrecht
tel: 31-3031-2789
fax: 31-3032-2285 3. When Clay died he left some unfinished pieces which were later completed by George Pyke, a more-or-less contemporary of Clay. George Pyke then went on to make his own organ clocks whose mechanisms closely resemble those of Clay.
There is a George Pyke clock at the museum in Utrecht, there is one in the Museum of the City of London, I think there is one in the Clock department of the British Museum, and I have one also. If Mr. Perretti can send some photographs and indicate where the pieces would fit that are missing, I think I will be able to help him.
In particular, in the Clay clocks as well as the Pyke clocks (and in the similar Stephen Rimbaud and Cornelis Engeringh organ clocks) there is a speed compensation device attached to the bellows which allows the stroke of the bellows to be adjusted to compensate somewhat for the degree to which the spring is wound. A clear picture of this device can be seen on page 55 of the catalogue entitled "Musical Automata of the National Museum from Musical Clock to Street Organ", which catalogue is available through Dr. Haspels.
I hope this helps. It will be interesting to hear what happens to this restoration.
For Mr. Perretti and the rest of you who want to communicate with me directly, my new E-mail address is FMTZ@aol.com .
Regards to all,
Frank Metzger
[ Editors note:
[
[ Frank Metzger is President of Music Box Society International (MBSI)
[ and is himself an expert on musical clocks. Thanks for writing,
[ Frank, and for your contributions to our truly international hobby!
[
[ Robbie Rhodes |
(Message sent Sat 25 Jan 1997, 15:28:25 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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