Information on 8 day longcase clock, 92 inches high, painted dial with
moon phases, Thos Pilkington, Bolton scripted on face, mahogany case,
reeded columns on sides of cap, second and date rings, floral
paintings on coners of dial, bell ringer. Do not know works maker. 
What is approximate age of this clock?

Hello yogi110336-ga,

I believe that I have the answer.   I have found no references in
search engines to clocks made by a "Thos Pilkington" or a "Thomas
Pilkington", or to clocks made in Bolton by anyone named Pilkington. 
However, I have found a watch by a "Thos Pilkington" of Bolton dated
1865.

"SILVER FUSEE BY PILKINGTON BOLTON 1865" (auction started Aug-22-02
11:21:05 PDT, ends Sep-01-02 11:21:05 PDT)
eBay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=953538740

Thus, it appears that your clock was made around 1865.

It is conceivable that this Thomas Pilkington is the same Thomas
Pilkington -- or a descendent or successor thereof -- listed as a
watch maker in a Dublin directory from 1820.

"DUBLIN DIRECTORY, 1820: P Surnames" (about half-way down the page)
From Ireland
http://www.from-ireland.net/directs/pnamesdub1820.htm

If it is the same Thomas Pilkington, then the clock would probably
date on the earlier side of 1865 rather than the later.  But I do not
have information as to whether the two Thomas Pilkingtons are one and
the same.

I have written two antique clock dealers in England to try to obtain
further information.  The two dealers sell similar clocks to the one
you have described; indeed, one specializes in moonphase longcase
clocks.

Allan Smith Antique Clocks
http://www.allan-smith-antique-clocks.co.uk/

John Shone
http://www.antiquegrandfatherclocks.com/

I will post any additional details that they provide or to which they
guide me.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used (mostly in Google's web search, but also to some
extent in other Google search engines, Alltheweb, MSN, and Altavista):

Thos or Thomas before and after Pinkington (in and out of quotation
marks), sometimes in combination with Bolton

The above in combination with Clocks, Watch(es), Watchmaker(s),
Clock(s), Clockmaker(s)

The most fruitful searches were on eBay for Pinkerton and on Google
Directory for antique clocks (after which I clicked on the category
"Shopping > Antiques and Collectibles > Clocks and Watches").

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 29 Aug 2002 21:55 PDT

I notice a couple of errors at the end of my answer, under the search
terms used:  please read "Pilkington" for "Pinkington" and
"Pinkerton".  I wrote the section on search terms rather late in the
evening,  after concluding my search and writing the rest of the
answer, and so was a bit prone to misspellings.  But I can assure you
that I consistently searched for "Pilkington" when researching the
answer.

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 03 Sep 2002 18:45 PDT

I have received replies to my two e-mails.

Mr. Shone informed me that Thomas Pilkington was not listed in any of
his books.  From the description of the clock, Mr. Shone thought that
the ball park date for the clock is around 1800.

Mr. Smith told me that this seems to be an unrecorded maker.  He has
most of the clock reference books available and can find no details of
Thomas Pilkington.  A photo would enable him to date by style.  The
first painted dials came out approximately 1778 so it won't be before
this.  Some of his contacts have had great success by contacting the
nearest local records office for information -- in this case Bolton. 
He would like to know how it turns out.

You can get the contact information from the web sites in the answer. 
You might also try other sellers or collectors of clocks and watches. 
(Perhaps a specialist in English watches from the 19th century will
know more about Thomas Pilkington than a specialist in clocks; it may
be that Mr. Pilkington was a watch maker who occasionally made clocks,
rather than the other way around.)

---

Request for Answer Clarification by yogi110336-ga on 03 Sep 2002 21:09 PDT

Greetings justaskscott-ga:
Thank you for your help.  I have the pictures which I will send to Mr.
Smith.  The works are being removed and cleaned and a name may be
available there which will be of help.
This is basically the information which I wanted at this time.
Thanks again.
yogi110336-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 03 Sep 2002 21:53 PDT

You're welcome :-)

Very timely.  I hope to hear additional helpful information from the
two dealers that justaskscott-ga contacted