Clock (Tall clock)

Description

The form and construction of this tall clock are derived from English bell-top tall clocks, popular during the mid- to late 1700s. When Winterthur acquired this clock, the form was believed to have been made only in New York, northern New Jersey and Connecticut but more recent scholarship has uncovered similar clocks made in the South. In Charleston, South Carolina, the clock hoods of this form were sometimes described as "pyrimidical heads." The many names that appear on the clock works illustrate cooperative production common among urban craftsmen at the time. Thomas Pearsall and Effingham Embree, who retailed the clock, were clockmakers and shopkeepers, in partnership from about 1781 to 1789 at Corner of Beekman's Slip. They most likely contracted James Berry and Francis Pell to make the works (Berry was located at 33 Flymarket in 1787; little is known about Pell), while special castings were acquired from John Youle, a brass founder dealing in hardware, ironmongery, and cutlery at 64 Beekman Slip and No. 5 Corner Beekman Slip until 1791. The maker of the case is unknown, but Thomas Burling, Embree's first cousin, whose shop was four blocks away from Beekman Street, has been suggested. The painted scene in the lunette is believed to be an early representation of Rip Van Winkle (c. 1825-40). It was painted over the sea and star backdrop for an original rocking ship attachment presumably when that was removed.