Images(8)

Tall Case Clock

Dateca. 1765 case; ca. 1740 movement

Artist/Maker William Claggett

OriginAmerica, Rhode Island, Newport

MediumMahogany, chestnut, white pine; brass, iron, steel, and lead

DimensionsOH (to top of central finial): 100 1/4" OW: Top cornice: 10 7/8" OD feet: 11 5/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1972-36,A

DescriptionAppearance:
Arched, molded hood with central, projecting keystone following profile of hood moldings; hood topped by three turned "cupcake" finials topped by corkscrews, the central one slightly large than those on each side, and each finial supported on plain plinth block; below molding on hood is arched section of faced with red wool, and overlaid with engraved brass tracery in free flowing arabesque patterns; downward projection of keystone in center of this section consists of carved flowering, corinthian like capital; series of moldings at base of hood, follow profile of above; hood supported at front corners by free standing, fluted, Doric columns with brass capitals at top and bottom, and brass rods attached as stop flutes at bottom; free standing half columns of similar design at rear corners; arched door to hood with plain surround and glass face, opens on brass hinges at top and bottom; plain sides to hood, with rectangular glass plates; hood rests on broad cove molding atop trunk; trunk plain on sides, stop fluted quarter columns with brass capitals at top and bottom on front corners; face of trunk has pair of projecting spandrels at top above rectangular arched door, with center section blocked, and with a deeply cut and carved shell at top; rectangular, pierced and scrolled escutcheon surrounding keyhole on left side (escutcheon slightly cut off at right side to fit against blocking); cove molding at base of trunk forming transition with larger plinth; plinth essentially square with chamfered front corners terminating in lamb's tongues at top and bottom; raised, central panel on front; molded base atop four ogee bracket feet. Movement of clock is conventional eight day movement with anchor escapement complete with original pendulum and two weights.

Dial:
One piece .030-.067” thick, 11 7/8” square brass dial with 5” wide by 9 15/16” high arched, semi-circular projection at top; silvered chapter ring with Roman hour numerals and Arabic minutes; small, seconds ring inside chapter ring at top; rectangular name plate engraved “Will Claggett Newport” below pair of scrolled steel hands, and date aperture at bottom. The chapter ring is surrounded at four corners by cast brass spandrel ornaments with central urn surrounded by two eagles fastened via rear screws to the dial. The dial arch contains a central, engraved silvered Arabic and Roman numeral moon phase and high tide ring with silvered moon dial above engraved with a face for the full moon. It is bordered on both side by cast brass spandrel ornaments depicting dolphins.

Movement description:
Eight-day brass time, strike, and calendar weight-driven movement measuring 7 1/4” H x 5 3/16” W. Plate thickness is 0.135” and clearance between front and back plates is 2.42”. Clock has an anchor-recoil escapement regulated by a seconds beat pendulum. A rack-and-snail strike sounds the hours on a 4 1/4” diameter cast bell.

Four brass turned pillars with decorative grooves 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 grooved for the weight cords. The time main wheel is 0.150” thick. The strike main wheel is 0.155” think. All time and strike train wheels have four-arm crossings. The steel crutch-rod is round and has a closed-end fork. The pendulum bridge base is horizontal. 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 and passes under the pendulum bridge.

The overall length of the pendulum is 42 5/8”. The pendulum rod is round steel. The bob is cast iron with a brass face. It is 3.3” diameter and 1.1” thick at its center, being smaller diameter and thicker than most tall case clock bobs. The weight pulleys are cast brass. The weights are cylindrical cast iron with cast in metal hooks. They are both 8 1/4” long. One is 2 5/8” diameter and weighs 11 lbs. The other is 3” diameter and weighs 14 lbs.

Construction:
Hood: the base frame is composed of horizontal front and side pieces lapped at corners; an ogee base molding around the front and sides overlaps the bottom edge of the frame and is nailed to the edges of the frame; the sides of the hood are set into dados in the top of the frame and nailed from the underside; the hood sides are formed of two stiles and rails, all with vertical grain, that are presumably butt joined and glued; the rails and stiles of the sides are rabbeted on the interior inside edges to receive the rectangular glass and thumbnail molded with mitered joints on the exterior inside edges; the stiles extend above the top rail; the rear stiles are rabbeted at the rear inside edges to receive the case backboard; the front stiles are relieved on the inside front edge to create a wide rabbet that angles back behind the top of the face frame; arched face frame, an arched mahogany block, and the hood door are set into this rabbet; the front frame is lap joined and nailed at the corners, has rounded exterior inside edges, and is glued and later nailed into the rabbet; arched hood door stiles are tenoned through the rails; hood door elements are rabbeted on the interior inside edges and thumbnail molded on exterior inside edges to receive glass; hood door hinges are nailed to base frame and underside of mahogany cornice board.

A thick mahogany cornice boards with two large stepped rabbets on the inside faces are nailed from inside to the top of the sides; a small wedge and pine block are nailed to each side from inside the side in the top rabbet and spanning the space between the mahogany cornice blocks and top of the side stiles; one small and one large molding are glued near the base and at the top of the cornice board creating a blank frieze between them; the rear half columns are nailed from the back into notches in the underside of the cornice board and top of the base frame; front columns are presumably held in place by the nailed on brass capitals and bases; an arched chestnut backboard with a straight bottom, rabbeted on the outside edge to receive the case backboard, is nailed across the top of the back to the wedge blocks in the space between the cornice board and sides and at the center near the top to a chestnut batten that runs between the arched backboard and back of the front cornice.

The horizontal front mahogany cornice blocks are possibly dovetailed to the side cornice blocks and have the same two moldings as on the sides glued with mitered joints to the horizontal and arched front cornice blocks; keystone elements are apparently glued in place; arched cornice block construction is unclear but there is mahogany block between the face frame and the lower section of the arched cornice block; the arched cornice block extends only to just above the arched lower cornice molding; an arched chestnut board extends from the mahogany cornice block to the top of the hood; mahogany cornice blocks behind the frieze are pierced for sound; frieze section is covered in red wool (modern) and a nailed on brass frieze; a chestnut batten is tenoned into the back of the arched chestnut front board at the top; mahogany top boards are set in angled rabbets in the top of the side mahogany cornice boards behind the top cornice molding and nailed to the top edges of the arched chestnut front and back boards and to the chestnut batten; side plinths are nailed to the top boards; central plinth appears to be mortised into the top boards at the front; caps are nailed to tops of plinths; three part finials (proper right finial replaced), each with flame and stems doweled into cupcake sections, are doweled into plinths.

Label TextClockmaker William Claggett produced both square and arched dial clocks like this example during his thirty-year career in Newport, Rhode Island. Born in London, Claggett trained with a London clockmaker before immigrating first to Boston, Massachusetts, and then Newport, Rhode Island, with his family between 1714 and 1716. The arched dial provided space for specialized features in addition to the basic time and date. The small chapter ring in the arch includes the time of high tides in Roman numerals and the lunar calendar in Arabic numerals. The moon face within that ring revolves to represent the phases of the moon. Knowing the time of high tide and thus when ships might sail were important to the inhabitants of a major port like Newport.

With the advent of arched dials, mid-18th-century cases evolved to include arched tops. Over time, the case hood design was simplified from the stepped “sarcophagus” tops like those to the left to the arched top visible on this clock case. Concave and convex carved shells as seen on this clock case ornament many pieces of Rhode Island furniture produced during the mid to late 18th century.
MarkingsRectangular name plate on dial "Will Claggett/Newport"
ProvenanceAccording to source (see letter from source to Graham Hood) Feb. 8, 1972, clock was taken to New Brunswick from Newport by a Loyalist family during the Revolution. Clock remained in family until purchase by source.

Exhibition(s)