Images(12)

Bracket Clock

Date1802-1810

Maker John Crowley

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumMahogany, yellow pine, glass, brass, steel, iron, paint

DimensionsOH: 21"; OW: 13 1/8"; OD: 8"

Credit LineBequest of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hennage

Object number1990-288

DescriptionEight day bracket clock with molded cornice and arched top surmounted by three rectangular front to back veneered panels with brass handle in center of center panel; front composed of an arched glazed door with a gilded inner thumbnail molding; side composed of a large glazed circular lunette over a rectangular glazed and crosshatched panel; ogee base molding over four brass ogee bracket feet.

Dial:
White painted arched dial with moon phase with painted seascape. Chapter ring has Arabic hours on the inside and Arabic minutes in 15 minute intervals on the outside with ticks indicating 5 minute intervals and dots indicating minutes. Arabic calendar dial below center with 5-10-15-20-25-31 labeled and all 31 days indicated by dots. Moon phase in arch with Arabic days labeled 1-5-10-15-20-25-29 and all days marked by tic marks at the inner edge radiating from the center of the arch. Labeled maps of the two hemispheres project into the arch. Strike silent level is positioned radially outside the 2. Each dial spandrel is raised foliate and painted gold. Dial signed "JOHN CROWLEY/ PHILADELPHIA." in block capitals below 12. Winding holes have brass grommets. Hour and minute hands are fastened by taper pin. Calendar hand is fastened by a screw.

Movement description:
Eight-day brass time, strike, and calendar fusee driven movement measuring 7 3/8” H x 5 5/16” W. Plate thickness is 0.162” and clearance between front and back plates is 2.05”. Clock has an anchor-recoil escapement regulated by a pendulum. A rack-and-snail strike sounds the hours on a 3.3” diameter cast bell. The strike hammer head is brass and teardrop in shape.

Four brass pillars are riveted into the back plate and pinned at the front plate. The two lower pillars are above the mainwheels. The round steel crutch-rod has a closed-end fork. The pendulum bridge base is a butterfly shape. It is fastened to the back plate with two screws and two locator pins. The bell stand has an inverted teardrop end and is screwed to the outside of the back plate and abuts the right edge of the pendulum bridge.

The round pendulum rod is steel. The bob is cast iron with a polished brass face. Pendulum knut is hexagonal.
Label TextFor most of the 18th-century American-made bracket clocks were rare, perhaps due to the ready availability of imported British examples. By the end of the century, American clockmakers began increasing production of the form. This Philadelphia example by John Crowley is extraordinary in the inclusion of a moon dial. Most American bracket clocks had solid arch silvered brass or white painted dials.

Bracket clocks were often less expensive than their tall case counterparts. Late-18th-century inventories in Virginia indicate that bracket clocks, like Philip Ludwell Lee’s example described in 1776 as a “Chamber clock [with] gilt frame,” were valued at around £4, while tall case clocks typically were valued from £8-£10.
Markings"JOHN CROWLEY/ PHILADELPHIA" on dial.
Provenanceex, Coll. George Horace Lorimer
Bernard & S. Dean Levy, Inc. until 1984

Exhibition(s)