Curiosity made the man tick

Dick Withington clocks come to auction

This early American H. Clark Shelf Clock is offered as Lot 572 in Miller & Miller’s upcoming sale of Canadiana & Historic Objects.

The late Richard Withington was “a natural born collector” who simply couldn’t pass an antique shop without going in, according to his wife Lise.

“It wasn’t so much about owning things, it was more the joy of finding them,” she recalls. “He had to know the ‘who, what, where and whys’ of what he collected. He was so intellectually curious.”

Dick Withington, as he was known, died in 1992. His impressive collection of clocks had grown over the years to about 200 at its peak. “Our home was not big,” says Lise, “but we had a very busy basement.”

Many of those clocks have now been consigned to Miller & Miller’s Canadiana & Historic Objects auction on Oct. 24th.

An enthusiastic researcher, Withington was one of three founding members of the Ottawa Valley Chapter of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) and became its first president. His knowledge of American and Canadian clocks made him a sought-after speaker and an undisputed expert. In 1983, he was made a Fellow of the NAWCC in recognition of his exceptional service to the organization.

Dick Withington working on his banjo movement clock.

Not only did he love hunting for clocks, he also loved repairing them and learning about their history, including reading biographies of clock makers. “He just loved interacting with other collectors because he appreciated their curiosities too,” recalls Lise. “He was not the least bit competitive. For him, collecting had nothing to do with money or bragging rights, it was just the satisfaction of knowing what you have, learning about something and then sharing it with others.”

Withington’s collection mainly encompasses early American shelf clocks, some Canadian clocks, and some unexpected objects as well. One such object is a pulley-driven planetarium, circa 1900, that was originally used to demonstrate the movement of planets in the universe. Another is an early 19th Century clockmaker’s repair box inlaid with the words, “Clocks Repaired”.

One of his last projects was to recreate a complete Banjo clock with a mahogany case he made himself, something he presented and spoke about at the Toronto Invitational meeting in 1992. By then, he had become a self-taught carpenter and a master at the hobby. “He just loved wood – period,” says Lise.

Dick Withington’s handmade banjo clock.

As a former systems analyst, Withington clearly applied the same complex analytical capabilities to building his clock collection and a vast, impressive knowledge on the subject.

He was truly “a Renaissance man,” says Lise.

By Diane Sewell

Diane Sewell has been a writer for over 25 years, producing stories for some of the country’s top newspapers and consumer magazines, as well as client newsletters and two commissioned books.