A FEDERAL GILTWOOD AND EGLOMISE BANJO CLOCK

DIAL SIGNED BY DAVID WILLIAMS (1769-1823), NEWPORT, 1815-1820

Details

A FEDERAL GILTWOOD AND EGLOMISE BANJO CLOCK
Dial signed by David Williams (1769-1823), Newport, 1815-1820
The central carved giltwood spreadwinged eagle above a circular glazed door opening to a white dial face with Roman chapter ring signed "David Williams/Newport" above an eglomise decorated throat enclosed by rope-carved frame flanked by scrolled brass spandrels above a rectangular base with eglomise panel depicting a ship battle and inscribed "The Constitution's Escape" enclosed by a gilt-decorated acorn and scrolled oak leaf frame within a gilded rope-carved frame with square corner blocks over a fluted tapering pendant base hung with spherules and an acorn drop pendant
42in. long

Provenance

Israel Sack, Inc., New York City, 1960

Literature

Lita Solis Cohen, "Living with Antiques: The Bryn Mawr home of Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Dawson Coleman," The Magazine Antiques (April 1966), p. 576. Antiques (January 1960), p. 40.
Sack, American Antiques from the Israel Sack Collection, vol. 1, brochure 5, (October 1959): p.93, no. 282.
The Rhode Island Historical Society, The John Brown House Loan Exhibition of Rhode Island Furniture (Providence, 1965), p. 126, no. 82.

Exhibited

New York, Winter Antiques Show: A Benefit for East Side House Settlement, January 1960
Providence, Rhode Island, The Rhode Island Historical Society, "The John Brown House Loan Exhibition of Rhode Island Furniture," May 16- June 20, 1965

Sale room notice

Please note that the dial is signed "D B Williams Newport."

Lot Essay

This clock, one of a small number of David Williams clocks to survive, contains the distinctive triangular brass works associated with the Newport banjo clock. For further analysis of these works, see Elisha C. Durfee, "The Newport Banjo Clock," Antiques (July 1941), p.34-35.