There might not be a timelier exhibit to ring in a new season at Historic Rock Ford than a clock.
A rare and historic tall case musical clock made by famous Lancaster clock-maker Martin Shreiner will be on display in the lobby of the museum’s John J. Snyder Jr. Gallery of Early Lancaster County Decorative Arts starting today, April 1 – opening day for the 2022 touring season for the museum.
The clock cycles through seven musical tunes – one plays for about a minute before each hour – and the case is made from cherry wood and is decorated in classic Lancaster County Federal Heppelwhite style, says Sam Slaymaker, executive director at Historic Rock Ford.
“We have a number of Lancaster County tall case clocks in the Snyder Gallery, but this one is really something special,” says Slaymaker. “It’s operating, so you can experience it by hearing it and seeing it. That makes it all the more special.”
The 8-foot-tall clock is on loan from John Pyfer Jr. and Carol Pyfer, of Willow Street, who had it restored to be able to play its original seven different tunes. It’s one of only a few known remaining operable Shreiner clocks.
“Lancaster County musical clocks are extremely rare. I have heard estimates of no more than seven,” says Pyfer Jr. “It’s a beautiful piece and we’re so happy to share it with the public and it only enhances the marvelous collection of antiques that John Snyder gave to Rock Ford. We’re absolutely thrilled.”
Pyfer Jr., an avid collector of tall case clocks, acquired the clock during a Pook & Pook auction a few years ago. He donated it when he and his wife moved to a townhouse in Willow Valley and had to downsize their collection from 30 to 18 clocks. Pyfer says Synder, the gallery's namesake, was a big inspiration and gave him a lot of help as he became more interested in collecting clocks.
Pyfer says the clock has only been sold two times; there was only one other owner between himself and the Shreiner household.
“The clock was for (Shreiner’s) own house and it remained in his possession until it was sold,” says Pyfer Jr.
The museum's team is in the process of trying to learn more about the clock.
“So far none of us can recognize the tunes. They might be pieces of folk or classical music,” says Slaymaker. “Identifying them will be an ongoing project. We’re making recordings of all the tunes and we’re hoping there will be a way we can identify at least some of them.”
The music box-like mechanism in the rare clock cycles through seven different tunes.
Through research and conversation with restoration experts about the clock’s design, Sarah Alberico, the museum’s curator, says the clock is circa 1820.
“Schreiner dated each clock sequentially and numerically,” says Alberico. “This one is 317. Another unique feature is it has two doors, which you don’t really see too often.”
The highest number Schreiner recorded for one of his clock is 431, according to Alberico. The museum has another Schreiner clock, numbered 90, in its collection of about 30 clocks.
The John J. Snyder Jr. Gallery of Early Lancaster County Decorative Arts features decorative objects that were made an used by Lancaster County artisans and reflect the degree of artist endeavor during the period of roughly 1750 -1820s, says Slaymaker.
“Lancaster pieces have their own unique style,” says Slaymaker. "The styles were a blending of Philadelphia and Baltimore styles, but have their own unique look.”
Martin Schreiner was born in 1769 on North Queen Street in Lancaster and opened a clock-making shop in 1791, according to a press release from the museum.
“I think it’s very remarkable to think that this is a man who was born in downtown Lancaster, before the start of the American Revolution and then died in downtown Lancaster just a few years after the end of the Civil War,” says Slaymaker, of Martin Schreiner. “His life was incredibly long and he really lived in that first big definitional era of American history and in downtown Lancaster.”
Alberico notes that Shreiner devoted his whole career to Lancaster.
“He also made a fire engine for the city,” says Alberico. “For the Sun Fire Company.”
Shreiner died in 1866 at age 97 and is buried at the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery at the corner of West Chestnut and Mulberry streets, which he founded in 1836, according to a press release from the museum.
But Shreiner’s clock, estimated to be 200 years old is still ticking.
‘There are antiques over there that you will never see anywhere else,” says Pyfer. “This clock and the shelf clock are primary examples of what I call the gilded age of craftsmanship.”
The Snyder Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Fridays and Sundays and 10 a.m to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Admission is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors (65 and older), $12 for youth (age 6-17) and free for children 5 and under. Guided tours of the General Edward Hand Museum take place at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Satuesdays. Find more information and purchase tickets at historicrockford.com.
The 2022 tour season runs through Oct. 30. Historic Rock Ford will be closed on Sunday, April 17 for Easter. The Snyder Gallery is closed from May 10-31 to prepare for the opening of "The Long Rifles of the American Revolution" exhibit on June 1.
