There is something so calming on the sonorous tick and ring of a grandfather clock, like a Mora clock, something that we relate to the dark wood homes of our grandparents. It is austere and impressive at the same time and has dark wood, imposing presence, brass etched faces, pendulum swing, an entryway into the past.
Now that interiors tend toward quite lighter paler shades in muted creams or beiges, the good old grandfather clocks would seemed to have outlived in the usefulness in our electric era and have no place in something but period homes.
The historic Swedish Mora clock from the 1800s combines a wonderful curvaceous form, so different to the traditional Continental or English Clock, with a superb array of light swirling colors which so eminently fit today’s interiors.
This traditional clock shape is the typical woman curve, narrow on the waist and extensive at the hips and bust; it is a very opulent design and very pleasant to the eye. They originate from Mora and it is considered that there were around many clocks produced for the period of their prime in the 1800s with the well known signed.
Furthermore, Mora was originally a farming community yet as the villagers fell on difficult times they took to making a wonderful Mora clock with every family specializing in making just a part of every clock, the body, the feet, the hood, front plate, etc.
Thus no two clocks are ever precisely alike unless you opt for a modern reproduction that has none of the artistry or ancestry of an original piece. It is part of their magic and the handmade flaws and flaking paint finishes of the old age.
The mechanisms typically have both hourly and 1/2hr ring with twin bells and are controlled by a pair of 18 lb weights just like the English grandfather clocks with double winding brackets in the hand painted clock face. Those will have 2 hands unlike the former baroque style of clocks from the 1700s that tended to have single handed systems.
They typically clean up well and with a little of attention and love work just as well these days as they did as they were made. What many people overlook is that it is the reliability of the pendulum swing which powers the Mora clock. You can get a piece in great working order which refuses to go as the place that it stands is not totally flat.
