Musings from the Museum 35: The Mora Clock

One of the joys of the Spalding Gentlemen’s Society Museum is the unexpected treasures that pop up on a regular basis. I would like to introduce you to an object that has become rather personal for me over the last few years, mostly because I felt so sorry that she was squirrelled away in the cupboard under the stairs, covered in bubble wrap and a little unloved.

Our illustrious curator told me that he knew for certain that she had been there for at least 40 years, and who knows how much longer? I will refer to the clock as female, as they were made in male and female versions (the male versions being rather less voluptuous in shape).

So, what is she?  She is a Swedish Mora longcase clock.

I have been lucky enough to volunteer in the conservation offices, where we finally have room to move and store the objects that are most in need of conservation. We are slowly working our way through the entire collection to assess and conserve as necessary – among them, wonderful things that have been hidden away in cupboards and trunks for many years.

This is how I met her.

I was stewarding on a museum open day, before lockdown, my job for that day being ‘Bag Lady’, not referring to how I look most of the time, but the task I was carrying out of politely removing handbags to store in the understairs cupboard (this is policy in the museum).

There was a large, bubble-wrapped object in the corner of the cupboard and – being a nosey person – I wanted to see what it was. When I had a peek, I realised it was a clock, painted off-white and very art deco in style.  During lockdown, I thought often of this poor clock and wondered why it wasn’t on display. I enquired on this point to be told that no one liked her much, we didn’t have the room to display her (the museum has an impressive collection of clocks), that she is quite large and, frankly, she’s primitive and she is 6ft tall!  

When we resumed visits after lockdown and now had the office across the road, I realised that it would be a great time to ask to get her out and have a good look.

So, she was liberated, treated for woodworm, and brought over in the trolley for cleaning and conservation. I was so happy, injecting the woodworm holes and cleaning her. She is not in terribly good condition, but considering most of these early clocks were made from whatever wood they had to hand, I think she has survived pretty well. From photographs of early mechanisms, she also has her original works – many of the Mora clocks sold now have replacements.

The next job was to find her history. The only thing we know for sure is that she was imported from Sweden by Ashley K Maples in 1903, because she still has her Swedish shipping ticket on her behind, but we need to go further back to find out why she is so interesting.

In the 1500s, Sweden decided to cast off its ties with Denmark after Christian II held a mass execution of heretics, known as the Stockholm Bloodbath, which set off a series of rebellions. Over the next century, the Swedish State became enormous, and over the next two centuries, the Swedes themselves decided that they would like an Empire. Swedish territory grew at an alarming rate, taking over what is now Estonia and Latvia and the part of Russia called Ingria where St Petersburg is situated. They had colonies on the Gold Coast in Africa, the Delaware River in America, and colonies in the Caribbean.

There was a long trading alliance with the French, which meant the army fought alongside France in the American War of Independence, and the country was hard hit by the defeat of Napoleon.

Sweden somehow kept on defeating the great powers that surrounded them. Denmark, Russia and even the Holy Roman Empire attempted to engulf Sweden again and again. Some of the histories suggest that they felt surrounded by foes, geographically they are in a tight spot and it’s no wonder that in later times they wanted to stay neutral when trouble erupted.

However, the edifice of empire, as history repeats over and over, is that they fall. The fall of the Swedish empire came in 1721 when Charles XII tried and failed to withstand the combined attacks of Russia, Denmark and Poland/Lithuania combined. Charles’ army was stopped in its tracks by Peter the Great.

This constant warmongering was impoverishing the country, taxation was increased, and the army was still conscripting young men. There were a series of bad harvests and terrible winters, and – bearing in mind that Sweden in the 1700s was still 90% agricultural – the effect on the population was devastating.

In the next few decades, 1.5 million Swedes emigrated, which was nearly half of the population, mostly to the USA.

So, in the middle of all this chaos, as usual, the peasants were the ones to suffer.  Along comes a man with the wonderful name of Krang Anders Andersson, who was a clockmaker in the Mora region of northern Sweden. In around 1795 he began a co-operative for poor farmers to earn a supplemental income.

These early clocks are masterpieces of make-do, often made with whatever they could get. Our clock is an early one, probably one of the first due to it being signed AAK on the dial. Also the weights are very heavy and very crude and, as such, is somewhat amateurish. Personally, I think it’s what’s charming about her.

Each family was given the task of making the cases or the mechanisms, and then the decoration. The clocks were painted to order, often given as wedding presents, and they were prized heirlooms. Sometimes the names of the family were written in the back of the case, rather like a family bible.  Our clock does not have any names, but the painting of the family on the front gives some indication of the pride they took in their work. That’s why no two clocks look the same; all of them have slightly different shapes and colours. The clock mechanism is a very basic 8-day movement and struck the hour with two bells, although many of the surviving examples do not have their original mechanisms, the early examples also have a calendar hand.  

A man named Gunnar Pipping, who is an eminent Swedish physicist, obviously has a love of these clocks too and has written many articles about them.  He estimates that there could have been 50,000 made between the 1770s and 1850, when cheaper German and American clocks started flooding in, putting an end to this cottage industry. They were made by proper clockmakers after this time, becoming more ornate and more expensive. There is even an amazing Mora clock with arms and legs! Sweden was by this time industrialising, so the poverty crisis was probably waning. Sadly, there were further famines in the 1850s, causing another wave of emigration.

The market for these clocks in the USA is huge, I suppose because there are so many Americans of Swedish heritage, and they want something from the old country. The clocks are regularly sold in the USA for £3,000 plus. As I said, she is a female and there are examples of the male clock that do not have the curves but are more triangular. Even IKEA has a version of the male style.

So now you know a little about these lovely country clocks, when the museum reopens, please go and say hello to her, where hopefully she will be on display and NOT in the cupboard under the stairs.

The finished Mora clock, isn’t she a beauty…

By Patty Harris