Featured Non-wooden (metal?) Gibraltar Ship Clock

Hi all,

My mystery today relates to a clock my dad has had as far back as I can remember, which I always loved looking at and wondered about. He said it's nothing special.

My main question for the thread is, have you ever come across Gibraltar ship clocks in a material other than wood? I have a hell of a time finding any online, they all look like the same model as this one with the main difference being they have a wooden base and look less ornate.

Here's the clock:





Now I enlisted the help of a relative to take these photos as I live very far from where my family lives, the only issue with that being I can't hold it and feel how heavy it is, get a better look at the material, etc. I remember it being heavy and appearing ceramic to me as a child, but of course...I was a child. It does seem to be some sort of metal but I can't say. It also kind of looks like chalkware to me.

Finally, here's a closeup photo of the back. I did edit this quite a bit to make it easier to read...I'm not physically there so this is the best I've got.



Also, apologies if this is in the wrong forum - I wasn't sure where clock discussion goes.

 

That a tough search.

 

I see your problem. I am having zero luck as well. Not finding anything related to the patent number either. Doesn't seem like it should be that difficult, as it is well marked.

 

What a fantastic piece of kitsch ! Does it light up too? Id guess 50s just because of the color.

 

I'd suggest that this is earlier than their wooden ones, which they found cheaper to manufacture.....or the need for metal at the time pushed them into wooden boats..

???
.

 

Sorry,tried for a while but also no luck (weird that it is so difficult) What does it say on the clock face itself? Maker?

 

I found this by googling Gibraltar Manufacturing co ltd; says the company made clocks: https://www.hobbydb.com/marketplaces/hobbydb/subjects/gibraltar-manufacturing-co-company

 

Nice.
then I'll add to my thoughts that in the dirty 30's....few could afford that big metal monster .....and by the end of the 30's , that much metal was indeed going to other purposes..

just maybe those clocks were scrapped....and few if any remain......
just a thought !!

also, maybe it was a short production run, before they decided to switch to wood !!

 

I'd ask yr relatives to tap or hold a magnet to it re: a metal test.From the front it has a ceramic feel to it but the back (esp the lettering) has a metallic molded look.Thousands of tons of metal scrapped for the War effort-including I've heard Civil War cannons !

 

It is quite likely that the Jersey City Library will have information that would help you. Newspaper ads, etc.

Can I assume that your ship is doing donuts in the ocean? Those sails all seem to be aimed in different directions.

 

The maddening thing in trying to research this is what's shown as the patent number itself. Over the years, we've gotten pretty nimble at searching the US Patent Office database for patents related to our our own tiny backwater of antique collecting, but those are all standard patents -- six or seven numerals, no letters or punctuation.

What we're seeing as "1.5-222" (?) is nothing at all like any part of a standard patent number. Maybe it's part of a design patent or utility patent, which use different systems. But looking in on the USPTO website for the first time in many months, we see they've abandoned their old easy-to-use database for an entirely new system, and at first blush we're not even sure if we're accessing all databases (standard, design, utility, &c') at once or, if we're not, how to get into those alternate databases...

 

The face reads "Oxford Self Starting" and then there's another Gibralter Mfg. Co. mark on the bottom.

So I've got a bit of an update - a magnet reportedly does not stick to the ship itself, only the obviously metallic sails. She says it doesn't feel very heavy and she thinks it's ceramic - if so I was fooled by the greenish colouring which I thought may be oxidation.

I'm still having no luck finding the model. Interestingly, I did find this ceramic clock made by Gibraltar which does look similar in its design (mainly the gold painted bits.) The Etsy seller lists it as being from the 40's.



Then I also found this ceramic ship clock/lamp done by a different manufacturer that bears some similarities in design...not sure which would be older...I'm inclined to say the Mystery Gibraltar one is older, though.

Tell me about it...I've had pretty much zero luck using that patent search even for numbers that appear clearly. I read this one as 155-222 but still didn't get anything for that.

 

Here's some non-magnetic metals (there may also be some alloys)-
PS-Prob ceramic ?

• 1. Aluminum
• 2. Brass
• 3. Bronze
• 4. Copper
• 5. Lead
• 6. Gold
• 7. Silver
• 8. Platinum
• 9. Zinc

 

Ceramic does seem to be the most likely answer although the mystery of why it's so hard to find is still nagging at me. Pirate ship no. 8...whatever that means! I may have to give up