Mr. Perretti's interesting story about the Clay organ clock once again
indicates that there are still many rare pieces to be rediscovered.
Here is some information that may help him.

1.  Arthur Ord Hume has written extensively about Clay organ clocks
and may indeed have been involved of the example which is in the Royal
collection in Windsor Castle.  A number of his books have photos of
Clay clocks and he will, I am sure, be willing to make these available.
Probably, he'd even like to be a consultant on the restoration!  Arthur
can be reached at

    Arthur W.J.G. Ord Hume,
    24 Sheperds Lane,
    Guilford, Surrey GU2 6SL,
    England
    tel/fax: 1483-574460.

2.  Dr. Jan Jaap Haspels is a world-renowned expert on organ music
and mechanical organ clocks and has written extensively about them.
I know that he has photographs and details about Clay clocks.  He is
very helpful, especially in person (often he is too busy to write).
It would probably be worthwhile for Mr. Perretti to speak to him on
the phone (fluent English, I think some Italian too) and try to get
some help that way.

    Dr. Jan Jaap Haspels, Director/Curator
    Nationaal Museum van speelklok tot pierement
    Buurkerk, Buurkerkhof 10
    3511 KC Utrecht
    tel: 31-3031-2789
    fax: 31-3032-2285
3.  When Clay died he left some unfinished pieces which were later
completed by George Pyke, a more-or-less contemporary of Clay.  George
Pyke then went on to make his own organ clocks whose mechanisms closely
resemble those of Clay.

There is a George Pyke clock at the museum in Utrecht, there is one in the
Museum of the City of London, I think there is one in the Clock department
of the British Museum, and I have one also.  If Mr. Perretti can send some
photographs and indicate where the pieces would fit that are missing,
I think I will be able to help him.

In particular, in the Clay clocks as well as the Pyke clocks (and in the
similar Stephen Rimbaud and Cornelis Engeringh organ clocks) there is a speed
compensation device attached to the bellows which allows the stroke of the
bellows to be adjusted to compensate somewhat for the degree to which the
spring is wound.  A clear picture of this device can be seen on page 55 of
the catalogue entitled "Musical Automata of the National Museum from Musical
Clock to Street Organ", which catalogue is available through Dr. Haspels.

I hope this helps. It will be interesting to hear what happens to this
restoration.

For Mr. Perretti and the rest of you who want to communicate with me
directly, my new E-mail address is FMTZ@aol.com .

Regards to all,¶
Frank Metzger

 [ Editors note:
 [
 [ Frank Metzger is President of Music Box Society International (MBSI)
 [ and is himself an expert on musical clocks.  Thanks for writing,
 [ Frank, and for your contributions to our truly international hobby!
 [
 [ Robbie Rhodes