Collections record Beta

Collection Record Detail

Object Name

Mirror and Clock

Object Number

1935-02-1

Description

Mirror with clock by Litchfield Manufacturing Company. Heavy mahogany veneer frame with 1" convex edge, 2 1/2" cyma curved border with 3/4" concave border on mirror. 7/8" convex frame on door of clock. Red and yellow reverse painted glass door. Key and hole on left hand side. 2 hinges on right. Yellow stars in circles on either side of dish shaped tin clock face. Face painted white with black roman numerals. Second hand and s/f indicator. One hand missing. Brass works inside boxed from back. Iron hanger on back of clock box. Cardboard backing to mirror.

Provenance

The Litchfield Manufacturing Company was founded in 1850 by Dr. Josiah G. Beckwith, a local physician and druggist who operated a medical practice and pharmacy on South Street in the building currently occupied by the Post Office. After founding the company Beckwith acquired the property on South Street along the Bantam River that a decade earlier had been used first by Wadsworth, Lounsbury, and Turner, and later by Julius Peck & Co., to manufacture shelf clocks. At the time Beckwith acquired the building it measured 80 feet by 50 feet and was three stories high. In 1851 the Litchfield Manufacturing Company was incorporated and several investors, including circus owner P.T. Barnum, joined the Board of Directors. The company manufactured papier-mache goods such as small tables, card cases, fire screens, portfolios, small boxes, vases and clock cases as well as metal nails, ornamental hinges and clasps for everything from trunks to daguerreotype cases. Trained papier-mache workers from England and Germany were brought to Litchfield to work for the Company and train local men and women in the technique. At its peak, the factory employed over 50 people. The success was short lived however. In 1854, P.T. Barnum persuaded the board to move the factory to East Bridgeport. A year later, due to financial difficulties, the factory closed.