Horse
Clocks
Wondering what horse clocks are? Take a guess. They
are clocks, which had a horse as an adornment. Brief
history of horse clock is something that you need to
know. Towards the mid of the 20th century a firm called
Mastercrafters Clock materialised after closing down
their radio manufacturing unit. Originally this company
was known by the name Mastercrafters Clock and Radio.
After closing down their radio manufacturing unit they
got full blown in clock business and were truly the master
till 1980s. They were awarded several patents for their
unique designs and one such design happens to be the
horse clocks. Mastercrafters had a deal with Hartland
Plastics and Breyer Molding Company to produce models
of horses to adorn the mantle clocks. Hartland and Breyer
created new styles of horses in their own unique way.
Hartland had horses that would face right with mane on
the right side and had dark brown bases to light marble
coloured ones. Breyer Molding created around 2000 different
models of horses to adorn the clocks of Mastercrafters.
The horses were made of plastics to porcelain pieces.
Famous Horse clocks
1. Breyer Molding supplied horse molds to Master crafter
until the clock company could no longer pay them. One
of their first models was of the serial number Breyer
#57. This clock has a western horse saddled standing
near the mantle clock and its their first original piece.
2. Breyer #571 was the anniversary American Saddlebred
clock that was manufactured to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of Brayer. In the early 1950's to early 70's the horses
moulded by Breyer had a glossy finish. Though they were
plastic they had the appearance of china porcelain.
3. Victor horse clock is the mastercrafters improved
version of electric clocks with self-starting motors.
This was western horse was made of plastic and hand painted
and the horse was designed by Harland company.
Some of the models of the horses that Breyer's supplied
Mastercrafters were glossy Appaloosa Mustang, dark version
known as charcoal mustang, Gold Charm Mustang and Misty
of Chincoteague and a model called stormy which has three
foals of Misty of Chincoteague. Once the deal with Mastercrafters
was completed both Hartland and Breyer entered the market
to make horses for kids and adults who loved to collect
horses. The charm of horse clocks still continues. They
are considered as antiques. But today you have contemporary
clock companies coming up with new models of horse clocks
to suit the contemporary homes.
There are many
more fixture articles in our fixture
section. There
is more specific information in the links at the beginning
of this article. They can guide you where you need
to go.
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