Ansonia Bobbing Doll Clock

This “Jumper No. 1” bobbing doll clock, c. 1890, was manufactured by the Ansonia Clock Company. A subsidiary of the Ansonia Brass Company of Ansonia, CT, the company was a leading manufacturer of American clocks between 1850 and 1929 (the year of its dissolution). The Jumper No. 1 model, manufactured from approximately 1889-1895, is novelty brass shelf clock with a patented pin/lever escapement that causes the doll (suspended from a spring) to bounce up and down.

The escapement works as follows: Instead of the lever engaging a balance wheel, a thin brass loop at its end encompasses a single loop of the suspension spring. Once the hanging doll is set in an up-down motion, the suspension spring expands downward, moving the lever and allowing one tooth of the escape to pass. The suspension spring then contracts upwards, again moving the lever allowing another tooth to pass. The time train is powered by a conventional 30-hour spring/wind movement.