Images(5)

Tall case clock

Date1730-1750

Artist/Maker Richard Miller

OriginAmerica, New Jersey, Elizabeth

MediumWalnut, chestnut, white pine, glass, brass, pewter, steel, iron and lead

DimensionsOH: 8' 1 1/4"; OW: 21"; OD: 10 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1964-259,A

DescriptionAppearance:
Tall case clock case: flat, stepped hood with pair of turned, wood urn finials at front corners; broad, straight, molded cornice on front and sides below hood; smaller, molded cornice below, straight on sides, arched at front; hood has plain, straight sides; front composed of arched, glazed door hinged at right, with brass escutcheon surrounding keyhole at center left; door flanked by pair of freestanding fluted wood columns; broad cove molding below hood forms transition to plain, straight trunk; long, rectangular door at front with brass keyhole escutcheon at left center; broad cove molding at base of trunk forms transition with plain base which terminates in molding above four straight bracket feet.

Dial:
One piece arched brass dial .025” thick, 11 ¼” wide, 11 3/8” high with 8 5/8” wide by 4 1/16” high arched section projection at top; silvered chapter ring with Roman hours and Arabic minutes; matted center section of dial; small, seconds ring inside chapter ring at top; pair of scrolled hands, and date aperture at bottom; chapter ring surrounded at four corners by cast, pierced, brass spandrel ornaments with central figured head surrounded by scroll work screwed onto dial; central, engraved ring in arch with moon dial at center engraved with a face for the full moon, surrounded by an engraved border of fern leaves with maker's name at bottom and a round aperture at top with Arabic numerals for the lunar phases; ring flanked by cast dolphin spandrels.

Movement description:
Eight-day brass time, strike, and calendar weight-driven movement measuring 6 3/8” H x 4 11/16” W. The top of the rear plate on the time side is chamfered. Plate thickness is 0.090” and clearance between front and back plates is 2.35”. Clock has an anchor-recoil escapement regulated by a seconds beat pendulum. A count wheel strike sounds the hours on a 4.4” diameter cast brass bell.

Four tapered steel pillars are riveted into the back plate and pinned at the front plate. The movement is fastened to the seat board by steel seat board screws threaded into the bottom pillars. The time and strike barrels are smooth, not grooved for the weight cords. All time and strike train wheels have four-arm crossings. The round steel crutch-rod has a closed-end fork. The pendulum bridge is semicircular at the lower edge and has a rectangular base. 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 pendulum bridge. The conventional motion work is crossed.

The pendulum rod is steel. The bob is lead with a brass face. It is 3.9” diameter and 0.65” thick at its center. Two cylindrical cast weights.

Primary: walnut. Secondary: chestnut backboard and rear of hood, white pine block.
Label TextApart from its arched dial, the overall form of this New Jersey clock is like that of the Graham example (1954-936). Arched dials, first introduced in England early in the 18th century, gained in popularity during the 1720s and 1730s. Like most American clock cases of the early 18th century, this example was made of solid walnut rather than the decoratively veneered oak found on its British cousins.

Richard Miller, possibly the earliest clockmaker in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, engraved a face above his name in the arched portion of the dial. The dial with the moon face rotates to represent the lunar phases. No moon is visible on the first or last (29th) days of the lunar cycle while the waxing and waning moon are visible leading up to and from the full moon on the 15th day. Knowing the phase of the moon was important for agriculture, maritime trade, and travel.

This clock descended in the Glen-Sanders family of Scotia, New York and was possibly purchased by Jacob Glen for his daughter Deborah and her husband John Sanders around the time of their 1739 marriage.
MarkingsDial signed: "Richard Miller".
ProvenanceDescended in the Glen-Sanders family of Scotia, New York. Perhaps made for John Sanders and Deborah Glen at the time of their marriage in 1739, and given to them by her father, Jacob Glen. (See Memo in object file)

Exhibition(s)