Mora Clocks: Guest Blogger Peonies & Orange Blossoms

Hi Everyone! I'm Angelina from Peonies & Orange Blossoms and Simone loved my post about Antique Swedish Mora Clocks and asked me to feature a Mora Clock post on her lovely blog! I am so excited to be here!!  I love that this blog is all about about antiques... with occasional cow picture thrown in! 

I have been just dying for an antique Swedish Mora clock since I first laid eyes on one years ago.  I know they are trendy right now, but that's okay.  They were trendy in the 1790s, too!

Antique Mora clocks

Mora clocks were made in Mora, Sweden when the town came onto hard times.

Mora Clocks are often marked with the inscription "A A S Mora".  These are the initials from Krang Anders Andersson (1727-1799) from Oestnor.  He is traditionally known as the first clock maker in the town of Mora.  (A A S = Anders Anders Son).  AAS initials appeared on clocks in 1792.

Antique Clocks with the "AAS Mora" on their faces, except the one on the bottom right with the flower pot.

Each area in the province of Darlana produced a different part of the clock.  The clocks were initially sold without a case, then buyer would then ask various locals to make a case.  That is why there is so much variety in these clocks!

Eventually however, the "Moraklockor" grew out of fashion.  A published manuscript from 1878 quotes, "In Mora clocks are being produced, but they are very old-fashioned models which cannot be compared to the more tasteful clocks which are being imported from North America and Germany".  HA! The clocks were produced for about 80 years and then fell out of style.

A very unusual mora clock in a museum

There are a few different types, all of which are usually made from local pine but sometimes oak.

Fryksdall: They have a pinched in waist, wide belly, and curly scroll.  These ones are most appealing to me. They are often painted in whites, cremes, and greys.

Bridal: These clocks are the most unusual and most expensive; they have fine carvings and paintings on them.  Often given to the bride on her wedding day.

Country:  Plainer in appearance with less decoration.  Simple hood crowns, may not have a face glass. They are often painted with folk art or in browns, yellows, and reds.

City: a catch-all phrase for all remaining clocks. These ones are often painted black.

a collection of "bridal" mora clocks!

Clocks made in the North of Sweden were thin and tall.
Clocks made in the South of Sweden were fatter with exaggerated curves.

Antique Mora clocks in beautiful blues

Mora clocks do come with original paint; however, through the years they have been painted and repainted at times.  The original owners would have never had the "chippy" look; they would have had a new very finely painted clock!  The new "chippy" look is all the rage these days with the shabby-chic look.

antique Mora clocks in chipped down to original wood

They come in all shapes and colors... here are some beautiful blues...

Antique Mora Clocks

These ones are more ornate with finer hand painting...

Antique Mora Clocks

Antique mora clocks painted black and gold in the chinoiserie style...

Chinoiserie black and gold antique mora clocks

 Beauty in the simplicity of white and grey...

Beautifully decorated, highly ornate with fancy crowns and painted bodies, these are bridal clocks:

ornate bridal Mora clocks

They do come in all shades, I love these pink and green clocks...

pink and green antique Mora clocks

Buying a mora clock is making a statement piece purchase.  If you are unhappy with the color of the clock you purchased, you could always repaint it to one that matches your room!
Here are some rooms showing how you can incorporate such a lovely piece into your household:

from Swedish Interior Design

from Brown Rigg Interiors

from Lars Bolander, the master of Swedish Style

picture from House Beautiful

picture from House Beautiful

The reason I wrote about these clocks is because I purchased one of my own!!  Check out my blog Peonies & Orange Blossoms to see which one I purchased!!

Don't forget to follow me at bloglovin, twitter, pinterest, and google plus.

Where to purchase?? Check out all of these fine antique mora clock dealers from which I took the pictures from: Gustavian, Lone Ranger Antiques, Bagatelle Antiques, Cupboards and Roses, A. Tyner Antiques, Eloquence Inc, Raymond Goins, Scandinavian Antiques & Living , M. Naeve, Maison and Co, C'est La Vie

Sources: reading source 1 reading source 2 reading source 3 reading source 4 reading source 5

These pictures are not my own. I put the sources on the pictures. If you own the picture and want to take it down, let me know.

Hanging Drapery...And An 18th Century German Clock!

I've been away from the computer, enjoying sun in Hawaii....so getting back into action has been tough.  

In previous blogs, I've talked about the casita we built for my 84-year-old parents.   The project is almost done.   We don't get down to California too often to work on it, so the project has taken over a year.   I am at the window-covering stage.  In fact, last week I worked to make the drapes.   I am a drapery-making fool according to my family.   I use interlining, blackout lining, and assemble them by hand.

This project was a dream to work on.  What's not to love about limestone floors, lots of windows, and beams making up the bones of the room.

The empty room.  

  I thought about several fabric options.


Some of my thoughts were - a check with woven shades underneath. (thank you photoshop!)

However, the family thought that was too strong.  The check fabric will be used on the kitchen chairs instead.     There was one fabric that looked really nice, and I actually ordered 60 yards of it.

Drapes tried out for color.  Defective fabric was returned.

Unfortunately, this fabric had serious flaws.  The design didn't line up across the fabric.  It was actually 2" difference between the left and right.  The flaw was obvious and had to be ditched.   Unfortunately I was 2 panels into it before I realized the problem.

Note the dark color on the edge.  That's the printed fabric running off the edge--no selvage, major matching problem!

I am including the above photo as a lesson.   I have sewn literally thousands of yards of drapery fabric and have RARELY had a defect problem.  This time I was in a hurry and didn't unroll it first.   Note the brown on the edge.  Then it goes back to white.    That should have been my first clue that I had a problem.

I re-ordered the run, and it was shipped short.   It was still off across the 54".   I really couldn't order any more fabric, it was obvious it was coming from the same machine and would have the same quality problem.  So I wound up going with Richloom "Darcy" in the Birch colorway.   It has a bit of a sage or olive green in it, which really looks good in the bright California sun.  The windows are argon filled, but the room still has alot of solar gain.  It was the most energy efficient that I could order.

The drapes look great with the floor and wood painted trim in the room.  The fireplace doesn't look too exciting in the photo (much better in person), but I think when I get the huge hewn mantle on there, it will look great.   I'd like to order some shades like I have in the sample photo, but haven't found a good cheap source.  The gorgeous Hunter Douglas blinds priced out at $6900, discounted!  (really? $6900 on a room and it's not even an antique?)

I went with some cheap rods from Lowes.  Cheap rods area always a pain because they "telescope" to the correct size.  However I didn't have time for mail-order rods.  If you actually want to open/close the drapes, they get stuck on the telescoping joint.  Wood rods tend to be able to get cut in the correct length which Lowes carries, but I wanted to skinny profile that these had given the beams in the room.  I had to drop the rods down below the beams instead of running it up to the ceiling.   I contemplated making valences but thought that would be too fussy and like the idea of the roman shades.  This of course, is totally stolen from Joni at Cote de Texas.   I had to giggle, I spent the last 2 days hanging these up, and she was writing on the subject of windows  here this week,  trying to keep us all from looking too tacky.   Thanks Joni!

I have a few other things to share.  My dad loves antiques.  I remember our first big antique purchase--see the fan backed chair below?  Well, my dad and I came home with it and my mom had a fit, didn't want that junk in the house.  It was about 1966-1970 and didn't fit her modern decor.   So we squirreled 2 chairs, a writing desk, a game table and a work table into my bedroom.  Wish I had photos of that room!

18th century German  tall case clock

The fan at the top of the chair has some green paint left on it.  Odd, but still charming.  The clock was a great find.  When my favorite french antique dealer said she had a German clock, I said I had to have it.  The face is charming, an old wood painted face with roses on it.

The clock works perfectly.   My dad will love this and my mom will be happy because she's come around to loving all these beautiful antiques.    Be kind about the rest of the room.  I had to put the tv above the fireplace because I didn't make room for it anywhere else.  I didn't do french doors, I was many, many thousands over budget on stuff like getting utilities to the house. Don't make fun of my fan, in 100 degree weather, it's a necessity!  When you're 84, you can request a recliner and your daughter will oblige.  (don't make it a rocking one, that is really bad for elderly who are unsteady on their feet.  It can cause a fall and a trip to the hospital.   I spent a week with mom at the hospital in March, this is important!)

I'm not done making drapes--you can see a panel is missing, but wanted to share what I am up to.   I said think faience would look good in here.  On my last day in Calif.,   I stopped by an antique shop Wednesday and found this 19" Italian platter.

It has as wonderful feel to it.  I love the rustic hand thrown qualities.   I would love to find a wall hanger for it.  It weighs alot, and didn't work with the hangers that I normally use for my papier mache trays.  It was the perfect reward for a busy couple of days making drapes!

Antique Clock Face

I mentioned that yesterday was an adventure attending a small antique show.  One item that I couldn't leave there was an old clock face.

The name on the front of the clock is Wright, Birmingham.  There were companies in England that just made clock faces.  Thanks to the internet, I found out within seconds that there were two companies that made clock faces in Birmingham:

Wright, B&Co.           From  1805 - 1820
Wright, Christopher    From  1835 - 1845

Clock faces can be dated based on what is in the corners of the clock.  The link below talks about how to date a clock face.  If there are flowers in the corner, the clock is earlier, 1770 to about 1800.

For more information about clock faces:  http://www.dialrestorer.co.uk/date-painted-dials.html

I wondered what kind of clock case it must have lived in originally.  I hunted on the internet for a clock case that had a similar looking dial with "Wright-Birmingham" and found the following photo:

From Liveauctioneers.com

It looks very similar to my clock face, wish they'd had a closeup.  It appears there is a girl and a fence in it like mine. .

This little 200 year old gardener brightens up my day when I look at her.  Notice the sheep dotting the hillside.   Is this a scene out of the Cotswolds?  Maybe I'll put a battery operated clock and hands on this, and tuck it in a bookshelf near the TV.  Or maybe I'll just talk about how I'm going to do that someday.