If you see something you've never seen before...

A while back friend Doug forwarded along a Craigslist posting to your local horologist regarding a clock for sale in Pebble Beach. 

Truth is, this clock maven had already spied this same posting earlier.

Wild looking clock. 

Large, colorful, ornate... looks old... 

But this clock fool wasn't sure this elaborate looking thing was his... thing.

Besides, the guy wanted $1,000 for it.

So we moved on.

Until perhaps 2 weeks later this Craigslist troll was perusing for new postings and sees the tower of flower is still seeking a buyer. 

No takers?

Hmm...

It is really nothing like this horological historian has ever seen before... 

"...over 100 years"?

What is a "Mora" clock?

Clickety-click.

Oh they're named after a small town in Sweden.

Where?

Way out in the middle of rural Sweden. 180 miles from Stockholm.

What!?

Itch... Scratch... 

Down the rabbit hole we went...

Mora clocks were produced in central Sweden starting in the late 1700s until cheaper competing offerings drove down the market in the mid/late 1800s. 

The small town of Mora and its surrounding region, Dalarna, was the center of production and best known for the "female" style of these clocks.

Female?

There were some Mora clocks that retained slightly more traditional, straight-sided, more English tall case styling. They are referred as the "male" version of these clocks and were typically made in more northern areas of Sweden. 

Far more popular and what has become the classic styling of a Mora clock is the curved case "female" version from the Mora / Dalarna region. This styling makes up the great majority of clocks that still survive (and are still emulated) today.

Examples of female and male Mora clocks:

from Tidbits and Twine

Fitting with the pattern of many clock histories, the stories of Mora clocks have more sensational variations and more pedestrian ones. 

One story, repeated across many sources in some version or another, involves tales of ships wrecked on rural Swedish shores, the booty of English clocks being taken away and copied by 18th century farmers.

This internet detective leans more to this version from Antique Council:

“During the 18th century the town of Mora in the province of Darlana was hit by several years of drought. Thousands of people fled their homes and went south to Stockholm and southern Sweden. Eventually many of these immigrants returned to their homelands and brought with them knowledge of farming techniques and a new skill, clock making.”

And this variation elaborates an entertaining story while elucidating a key feature of Mora clocks:

“In the mid-1700s, when agriculture and mining industries in the small Swedish town of Mora fell on hard time, the townspeople came together in hopes of finding a way to survive. Legend has it they held a town meeting... As they talked they realized that they had several families that were very good woodworkers, and other families that were painters by trade, and still others who knew how to build clock workings.” By pooling their talents, they created the first Mora clock. “This one-of-a-kind piece of art sold immediately, and this began a cottage industry for the village.”

The feature referred to is that clocks were not made by singular clockmakers rather the movements and especially the cases were made by many different artisans.

Turns out Mora clocks are highly collectable and originals are valuable. 

Furthermore this fashion maven discovered that Mora clocks are very popular... 

Especially with some "home stylists." 

AND modern recreations are available for sale at...

Wait for it...

Your local Home Depot.

Zowie!

OK by this point YLH was quite intrigued about Mora clocks and, after re-reading the Craigslist posting, suspected that our denizen of Pebble Beach might be an original.

Zo a call was made and an appointed date and time were set and off we went for a look.

Norman greeted us outside his modest PB home. He escorted YLH into his kitchen and there, standing on his checkerboard tiled floor, tucked next to the refrigerator was...

Seven and a half feet tall... this was an impressive thing.

Whimsically painted with presumably Swedish script on the base.

Norman told me that his wife (who was now in hospice) had brought it with her from Sweden and it was handed down from her family.

Wow.

Does the clock run?

Normal had never seen it run.

Is this as old as what it says on the case?

Norman said that his wife had said that it had been in the family a very long time but that's all he knew.

If it was as old as the “1843” on the case then that case had been repainted at some point, but it did look very old indeed.

How about the movement?

Here YLG will provide some additional information about Mora clocks.

Most original Mora movements followed a very similar pattern of manufacture. Hand made steel movements with hand-forged steel levers, brass movement wheels and wooden barrel winding wheels. Sharply cut steel hammers strike steel bells.

A bit of research will show that most original movements look very much like this example from Wikipedia: 

courtesy Wikipedia

And here is a shot of our flowery example that YLH took in Norman's kitchen:

courtesy YLH

Ladies and gentlemen that is an original movement.

YLH was smitten.

Given the colossal size of the thing, it was clear that a conference was needed with the spousal unit, so she came in for a look.

"I like it."

Done.

A bit of gentle haggling and a deal was struck.

With her crown removed our Swedish friend just fit in the SUV.