Louis Bernhard. Clockmaker, Watchmaker, Jeweler, Artist and Architect working in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. This is a very unusual 30-day duration wall regulator. 219015.
This impressive wall regulator was made in 1875 by Louis Bernhard of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Its design is truly eye-catching.
The case is signed by the maker, and a lead inscription on the backboard shows that Bernhard finished this large regulator in 1875. He crafted both the movement and the case, drawing on his skills as a woodworker. The case is made from black walnut with figured burl walnut veneers. At the top, a carved crest features a bust of "Columbia," the goddess of Liberty. Two turned wooden finials sit on wooden plinths at the front corners. The bottom has a bracket that tapers to a blunt point, with applied moldings and a carved lion's head. The waist of the case is substantial, with a full-length glass door on the front and long glass side panels. The door opens to reveal the interior, where a large mirror is mounted on the backboard, framed by moldings.
The circular glass dial is set in a turned wooden bezel. It displays Roman numerals for the hours and has a smaller seconds dial. Since the dial is glass, you can see the movement behind it.
This clock has a thirty-day, weight-driven movement with skeletonized, engraved plates. The maker's name, "Louis Bernhard, Bloomsburg, Pa.," is engraved on the front plate. The movement includes a visible, front-mounted escape wheel and a gravity escapement with pivoted detent arms, similar to the "Reids spring pallet" design. It is regulated by a large, single-faceted glass jar pendulum filled with mercury to compensate for temperature changes. The pendulum is also signed and dated "Louis Bernhard / 1875." A separate movement for the strike train is mounted at the bottom of the case, along with skeletonized and signed plates. This mechanism uses a front-mounted count-wheel strike system, and a rear-mounted hammer strikes a bell inside the case. A separate brass-cased weight powers this movement, which requires winding once a week.
The clock stands about 95 inches tall and is 32 inches wide.
Inventory number 219015.
Louis Bernhard is listed in several references as a watchmaker and jeweler working most of his life in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
The (History of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania, Battle, 1887, Bloomsburg, pg. 323) provides the following information about this industrious person.
Louis Bernhard was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1839. His family immigrated to America when he was a year old, settling in New York City. Within a few years, they moved West to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Here he spent his childhood and was educated in the local town's school system. At the age of 17, Louis began an apprenticeship in the watch-making trade under the guidance of John F. Jordan. In 1858, Louis moved to the village of Bloomsburg, where he established his own watchmaker and jeweler business. He was talented and very skilled. In 1859, he exhibited a chronometer watch that he made at the Columbia County county fair. In fact, he claimed to have manufactured all of its parts. This is thought to have been the first watch ever made in the county. It is reported that he trained eleven apprentices in the watch trade during his residence in Bloomsburg. He is also said to have served the community as an architect and provided the plans for the Lowenberg & Cadman block, the Episcopal parsonage, and his residence, which was on Fifth Street. (It may be number 37 today?) Even the iron fence (now gone) surrounding his well-kept and ornamental grounds was cast from designs drawn and furnished by him. He also enjoyed oil painting and was a carver in both marble and wood. A few examples of his work survive. Examples include an elaborately finished case of black walnut housing an astronomical clock of most intricate and perfect workmanship, an elegant inlaid box for his drawing instruments, a large elaborately carved black walnut looking-glass frame, several oil paintings that included landscapes representing some of the choicest scenery in the vicinity of Bloomsburg, several copies of famous paintings, among them "Shakespeare and his Friends." All of these paintings are well executed and denote a high order of artistic skill. He has also painted oil portraits of himself and his wife and other members of his family. Mr. Bernhard was a resident of Bloomsburg for nearly thirty years. He is thought to have been progressive and public-spirited and has served this vicinity as a member of the council. He married Anna J. Townsend in April 1862. Together, they had six children. Mr. and Mrs. Bernhard were members of the Episcopal Church. He made a study of civil engineering at Wilkes-Barre Academy and completed his studies in New York City. (History of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania, Battle, 1887, Bloomsburg, pg. 323)
Other known articles include his wheel-cutting engine, which is in the William Penn Memorial Museum in Harrisburg. A floor-standing regulator made by him is in the NAWCC collection in Columbia, PA. This clock is described as a Regulator, having an eight-day time-only brass movement. It utilizes the escapement invented by Thomas Reid of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the early 1800s. The heavy brass plates are skeletonized and attached to a wooden seat board. The movement is engraved, "Louis Bernhard / Bloomsburg PA." The pendulum is a Harrison gridiron design. The bob is also engraved with "Louis Bernhard, Maker." The painted glass dial allows a view of the movement. It includes a subsidiary seconds dial. The walnut case is fitted with six glass panes. The interior is painted black, with his portrait behind the pendulum.
