In 1816, Thomas H. Hughs constructed a luxurious boarding house out of wood comprising an entire city block in the heart of Cape May, New Jersey: the iconic Congress Hall. For his lavish new building, Hughs commissioned a famed Mount Holly clockmaker, Edward Hudson, to build two movements for two existing locally made cases which would be placed at the two entrances of Congress Hall's grand foyer. In partial payment for his contribution, Hudson was granted a room free of charge for the entire summer!

The clock featured in this listing is in fact one of the two clocks created by Hudson for Congress Hall (the other sold recently at another nearby auction, realizing $16,000) It is constructed from richly toned mahogany and features striking design elements such as inlaid holly stringing throughout, fluted mid quarter columns and colonettes, and four painted "Cape May Fan" spandrels. It has 8-day bell striking movement, a white painted dial with arabic numerals and a calendar wheel, seconds bit, and rolling moon wheel. This is an extremely rare chance to own a beautiful piece of Cape May's history.

Size
98" x 21" x 12"

Literature
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