Images(13)

Tall Case Clock

Date1790-1800

OriginAmerica, Kentucky, Lexington area (probably)

MediumCherry, tulip poplar, yellow pine, walnut (modern), iron, brass, steel

DimensionsCase: OH: 103"; OW: 21"; OD: 10 1/2" Pendulum: OL 41 7/8"; diam 3 3/8"; depth 7/16" weight 1: OL: 8 ½”; diam: 2 ¼” weight 2: OL: 6 ¼”, diam: 2 1/8”

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, TIF Foundation in memory of Michelle A. Iverson

Object number2022-106,A-E

DescriptionTall case clock with broken scroll pediment terminating in veneered fan rosettes; central plinth has a replaced leaf carved element below an urn and spire finial; side plinths are fluted with urn and spire finials (all finials and plinths are replaced); arched glazed hood door with brass knob and molded arch above with central keystone; four thin columns with slight swell towards base of columns, integral wooden capitals and bases, and square plinths at hood corners; arched glazed windows on sides of hood; wide cove molding below hood above plain veneered frieze bordered by thin beads; trunk with scalloped top edge of door and inset brass escutcheon and fluted quarter columns over coved waist molding; base with fluted quarter columns and panel outlined on face with molding in square with inset corners; base molding over (replaced) ogee bracket feet.

Dial:
One piece arched 12 15/16”W x 17 3/4”H x 0.095” thick white painted dial with pink roses painted within oval in arch, flanked by sprays of pink flowers, and in gilt outlined corner spandrels. Roman numeral hours, Arabic minutes in five minute increments with dots below marking intermediate minutes. Arabic seconds dial above hands in ten second Arabic numeral increments with dots above marking intermediate seconds. Arched calendar aperture below center flanked by two brass grommeted winding holes. Scrolled hour, minute, and seconds hands.

Movement description:
Eight-day brass time, strike, and calendar weight-driven movement measuring 6.75” H x 4.8” W. Plate thickness is 0.118” and clearance between front and back plates is 2.37”. Clock has an anchor-recoil escapement regulated by a seconds beat pendulum. A rack-and-snail strike sounds the hours on a 4.6” diameter cast bell.

Four brass dial feet pinned to iron false plate, cast with "WILSON". Brass false plate feet pinned to front plate of movement.

Four brass pillars are riveted into the back plate and pinned at the front plate. The movement is fastened to the seat board by steel hooks that hook over the bottom movement pillars and are fastened under the seat board by nuts. The brass time and strike barrels are grooved for the weight cords. All time and strike train wheels have four-arm crossings. The conventional motion work has three-arm crossings. The crutch-rod is round steel with a closed end fork. The pendulum bridge base is butterfly shape. It is fastened to the back plate with two screws and two locator pins. The bell stand is screwed to the outside of the back plate under the right side of the pendulum bridge.

There are standard cast-brass pulleys with riveted steel stirrups. The overall length of the pendulum is 41 7/8”. The pendulum rod is metal. The bob is cast metal with a brass face. It is 3 3/8” diameter and 7/16” thick at its center. The weights are cylindrical cast metal. One is 8 ½” long, 2 ¼” diameter with a hook protruding ½” above the top. The other weight is 6 ¼” long, 2 1/8” diameter, with a hook protruding 13/16” above the top.

A= case
B= movement
C= pendulum
D&E= weights
Label TextVery little early Kentucky furniture survives that dates before 1800 and illustrates elements of 18th century furniture styles as this clock does. Certain details of the piece relate it to the design of clock cases made in the area of Lancashire, England. This cherry tall case clock descended in the Marshall family of Kentucky and was mentioned in Thomas Marshall’s (1730-1802) will codicil in 1800 as well as his son Thomas’s (1761-1817) 1817 will. Described in the first will as being at "Bucktrout", Thomas Marshall’s home in Woodford County, Kentucky rather than at his son Thomas’ house "Federal Hill" in Mason County where he was at the time of his death, the clock may have been made in the vicinity of Woodford County or even in Lexington in neighboring Fayette County. While the case cannot at this moment be placed with any identified cabinetmaker working in central Kentucky in the 1790s, hopefully future research will reveal who could have produced this object.
Inscribed"Priddy/ 11750863" inscribed on back of pendulum bob.
Markings“WILSON” cast into iron face plate.
Stamped into the back of the date dial, "OSBORNE[‘S?] MANUFACTOR[Y?] BIRMINGHAM"
ProvenanceDescended in the Thomas Marshall family of Woodford and Mason County, Kentucky. Line of descent: Thomas Marshall I (1730-1801) by bequest to son Thomas Marshall II (1761-1817) by bequest to son Thomas Marshall III (1793-1853); possibly other Marshall family members; Sallie Hughes Marshall Wilkes (1858-1950), niece of Thomas Marshall III; before 1927 sold to William B. Goodwin of Hartford, Connecticut; unknown owners; purchased by Sumpter Priddy at G.C. Slaon's Auctions in Washington, DC on 15 September, 1986, lot 1761; unknown owners; Lisburne Lane Antiques, Gloucester, Virginia; to vendors in 1989.