Time for work; Delaney Antique Clocks is family's passion.

Byline: George Barnes 

Like a steady, soft rain falling, hundreds of clocks keep time in Delaney Antique Clocks, a rhythm broken each 60 minutes when a symphony of chimes announces the hour.

It is one of the largest collections of tall-case clocks in the country gathered in a single building. Hundreds of smaller clocks also adorn shelves and walls at the business at 435 Main St. in West Townsend.

John M. Delaney sits at his desk surrounded by the clocks, seemingly unaware of the pleasant but constant noise of what he calls his "rotating collection." The collection is also his family business - with wife, Barbara, and sons John A. and Sean Delaney - of buying and selling antique clocks.

"It's a fine line between collecting and selling," Delaney said while looking over the variety of clocks on display.

The business has a museum feel to it. Everything in the shop is for sale, but each clock was purchased with a collector's eye. They are objects of value, worth from a hundred to thousands of dollars, but also works of art that Delaney loves and admires. He could not pick one he likes better than another.

"I like them all," he said.

There are exceptions. If a clock has a battery or a plug, he's not interested. There are no electric clocks in the shop, unless you count the internal clock in his computer.

Late 18th- to mid-19th-century clocks are what most catch his eye, as well as a few 17th-century clocks. After 1850, mass production limited the number of unique handmade clocks being built.

Delaney did not start out as an expert on antique clocks. It was a business that found him almost by chance.

In the early 1960s, Delaney and his wife were living in Europe, where he taught mathematics and physical sciences.

"My wife was interested in antiques in general. I was struggling as a teacher and earning very little money," he said.

One of Mrs. Delaney's purchases at the time was a clock, which was sold to help pay for a move back to the United States so that her husband could do graduate work. The sale sparked an interest in clocks from a historic standpoint, and as a possible way to earn a better living. The Delaneys returned to Europe, and began accumulating enough money to buy and sell clocks.

"The hardest part is finding the goods, especially when you are young and not established," he said. "Eventually, things begin to find you."

By the time the business was established in West Townsend, the Delaneys were known as people interested in buying and selling good quality clocks.

"Now we have access to clocks everywhere," Delaney said.

Although many of the clocks the family owns are made in the United States, especially New England, there are also clocks from England, Holland and France.

There are traditional "grandfather clocks," and also oddities such as small French carriage clocks that were taken on long carriage rides to keep time during the trip.

The height of some of their tall-case clocks is astounding. One built by Elnathan Taber of Roxbury was 7 feet 11 inches tall.

The Delaneys' customers come from all over the world. Delaney also finds friendship among his customers. While being interviewed, one of his friends, Todd Keating of the UMass Memorial Health Care board of trustees, stopped by to browse. Keating said he collects clocks made in Connecticut, but often stops in just to visit.

"I started collecting a long time ago," Keating said. "I think in 1980 or '81 was my first time in the shop."

The Delaneys' collection includes beautiful clocks made in Grafton, Worcester, Ashby and other area communities.

There are several types of clocks made by members of the Willard clock-making family, including Aaron, Benjamin, Ephraim and Simon Willard, who started in a business in Grafton and later moved to Roxbury where they became among the most noted American clockmakers.

Alexander Willard, a clockmaker in Ashby, was a distant cousin to the Willards of Grafton.

The Delaneys have become a clock family, too. Sons Sean and John Delaney ran their own antiques business in Townsend before joining Delaney Clocks. The sons also share their expertise with the PBS television program "Antiques Roadshow."

Their father has an encyclopedic knowledge of clocks and what he doesn't know is contained in a case full of books next to his desk.

Each clock is photographed, taken apart and documented. Delaney does not take much stock in handwritten inscriptions telling a clock's ownership history. While it is nice to know who owned the pieces, Delaney said he discounts what he finds, because there is no way to verify its authenticity.

"I know most of it is not true," he said.

What is verifiable in many cases are the three artisans who made the clocks - the skilled metal workers who made many different types of metal and wooden movements, the woodworkers who created the distinctive cases, and the artists who made the faces and other art work on the clocks.

Delaney Clocks offers visitors a chance to see all the best of these talents on display.

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Top photo, Sean Delaney helps a customer at Delaney Antique Clocks. (2) Delaney Antique Clocks is located at 435 Main St. in West Townsend.

PHOTOG: PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM RETTIG