Antique American Pennsylvania Longcase Clock, signed John Hoff, Lancaster

An 18th century walnut tall cased clock attributed to George Hoff (1733-1816), a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania maker. George Hoff, the progenitor of the famous Hoff family of clock makers (there were five counting George, Sr) was trained in Germany, and arrived in the Colonies in 1765. Hoff’s workmanship reveals his Germanic clock making training, making his clockworks easy to distinguish from other early clock makers. As for clock makers in the colonies prior to 1770, there weren’t many anyway; and although Lancaster has been heralded as one of the major, if not the major, areas where the clock making craft in America began and excelled, Hoff stood out as a leading craftsman in the region. This example is typical of Hoff’s work with a steel framed thirty hour chain wind clockworks and an engraved brass dial with pewter cast spandrels. The iron under dial plate shows traces of the original deep red paint, an unusual if not unique characteristic of the Schuykill River region. The solid walnut case is sturdy and made of thick wood, and the plain flat topped case of a shorter height of 89″. The supplied with a 30 hour clockworks with a duel chain and weight system was probably the way most of his clocks were made. The plates are steel with brass bushings, instead of brass, the gears pinions were the “lantern type”with small steel rods acting ad pinion leaves, and the clockworks have the strike system usually associated with the maker, as well as the pendulum hanging system and wire suspension.