AntiqueClocksPriceGuide.com

Baltimore-style banjo, late 1800’s. The dial painter would like you to believe that this was made by George(?) Hatch, but there is little else to support that claim. The old case is walnut or mahogany, with no grain painting. The three glasses are modern, the throat and lower glass painted in an atypical way. The iron dial has been repainted and mounts to the case with two opposing studs and two screws. It is signed “Hatch Co.”, but there was no Hatch Co; there was a Hatch Mfg. Co., but most of George Hatch’s clocks were made by Williams & Hatch and sold by Riggs Bros in Philadelphia. George’s son John B. took over his father’s firm in 1872 and sold banjos and regulators, and may have sold as Hatch Mfg. Co. I can find just one clock made by JB on the Antique Clocks Identification and Price Guide (none on LiveAuctioneers), so his clocks are rare, but his clocks may be misidentified as his father’s clocks. The early pinned banjo movement is not a George Hatch movement, and the pendulum is not a George Hatch pendulum (the keyhole and the bob attachment are not the style used by George). The weight is a No. 5 weight from E. Howard. The hands are period. This is a nice-looking clock and it is running well, and it is 1800’s issue. Hatch Baltimore banjos sell for $750 to $2400. $500–$1000.