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Lot Essay
Upon the exteriour the exertions of genius and taste have not been spared, or any expence: the whole appearance of this timepiece is strikingly elegant the front of the timepiece consists of elegant paintings on glass, and rich carved and gilt ornaments. The timepiece is supported by a superb carved and gilt pedestal, and surmounted by the American Eagle.
--Excerpts from Lemuel Curtis, advertisement, The Boston Intelligencer, 12 April 1817 (see fig. 1).
Illustrated and described in detail in his 1817 advertisement, Lemuel Curtis' "girandole" timepiece has been hailed as America's most beautiful clock and this example stands as an exceedingly rare survival of this opulent model (fig. 1). So-called for its resemblance to girandole looking glasses of the era, the ornament alone of the clock was an expensive undertaking and required the talents of frame maker, carver, gilder and painter. As such, it is estimated that fewer than 100 were made during the period, of which only about thirty survive today, in varying states of preservation. The timepiece offered here is among the few with much of its original ornament, including the painted scene of Aurora in her chariot in the lower églomisé panel (see Paul J. Foley, Willard's Patent Time Pieces: A History of the Weight-Driven Banjo Clock, 1800-1900 (Norwell, Massachusetts, 2002), pp. 112-113; Lilian Baker Carlisle, "New Biographical Findings on Curtis & Dunning, Girandole Clockmakers," American Art Journal (May 1978), p. 98).
Lemuel Curtis (1790-1857) was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts and through the marriage of his mother's sister, was the nephew of Aaron Willard. As indicated by his output, he almost certainly trained with Aaron's brother Simon Willard and in 1810-11, around the time when he would have recently completed an apprenticeship, he is recorded in the tax list of his hometown, Roxbury, where Simon lived and worked. Soon after, Curtis set up his own business in Concord, Massachusetts. Like Simon Willard, Curtis was an innovator and while his early output consisted of replications of Willard's patented banjo-clock, Curtis soon began "improving" on his master's mechanical inventions. Among his developments was a new mounting system and modifications to the pendulum suspension. In 1816, he further followed in his master's footsteps by applying for and receiving a patent for an improved timepiece. While the original patent does not survive, Curtis' advertisement in 1817 indicates that it was for a girandole model (fig. 1). In this advertisement, Curtis lauded its decorative attributes, but enhanced by his technological advances, the model was also praised by Curtis for its superiority as a timekeeper and a "piece of perfect machinery." Interestingly, while most surviving examples display Roman chapter rings, the timepiece offered here, like the illustration in the advertisement, features an Arabic chapter ring. As seen on other Curtis girandole timepieces, this example is stamped by the maker on the movement's front plate, and the various components that comprise its case are each identically stamped with gouges, here III, shop marks that assisted with the assembly of the piece. Despite Curtis' promotional endeavors, the form was not a mass-market success. Paul J. Foley surmises that most were made in the short period between receiving the patent in 1816 and 1822, when Curtis relocated to Bennington, Vermont and entered into a partnership with Joseph N. Dunning (Foley, pp. 110-113, 236).
The case of this timepiece is beautifully decorated with Aurora in her chariot waving the American flag as she heralds the new day. Accompanied by the Hours in mythology, Aurora was a decorative device long favored by clockmakers, but representations of the Dawn Goddess appear to have been particularly popular in the Boston region during the early nineteenth century. Identical scenes as well as variant Aurora compositions are seen on other Curtis girandole timepieces and related depictions adorn clocks made in the Willard shops. Scenes of Aurora also appear on a tray and box, both made in Boston, as well as on a group of schoolgirl watercolors, which may have hailed from a Boston-area school (Carlisle, pp. 93-94, figs. 5-7; Foley, p. 73, fig. 166; Lester Dworetsky and Robert Dickstein, Horology Americana (Roslyn Heights, New York, 1973), p. 47; Sotheby's, New York, 18-19 January 2001, lot 766; Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. 3, P3254, p. 719 and vol. 6, P4457, p. 1455). It is very likely that the paintwork was executed by Lemuel's brother, Benjamin B. Curtis, an ornamental painter in Boston. He is known to have supplied his brother with "Frames, for the bottom of patent Timepieces" and the églomisé panel of one Curtis girandole timepiece is signed "Benj. B. Curtis" (Foley, pp. 182-183, 235; Walter H. Durfee, "The Clocks of Lemuel Curtis," The Magazine Antiques (December 1923), p. 266, frontispiece).
As indicated in a 1910 publication cited above, this girandole timepiece was owned over a century ago by Mrs. E.C. Swift. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1854, Florence Abbott Bailey married in 1872 Edwin Carleton Swift (1849-1906), who at one time owned the largest meat packing company in the country. The couple resided in Boston and on their large estate, Swiftmoor, in Beverly, Massachusetts. Soon after its first publication, the timepiece was presumably acquired by George Manton Whipple (1830-1913) as he is noted as its owner when it was published for a second time in 1919, six years after Whipple's death. George M. Whipple resided in Salem, Massachusetts (fig. 2) and later Riverside, California. The clock remained in the Whipple family until it was consigned to auction in 1992 (Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts, vol. 1 (Chicago, 1912), p. 257; Sotheby's, New York, 19 June 1992, lot 409).
--Excerpts from Lemuel Curtis, advertisement, The Boston Intelligencer, 12 April 1817 (see fig. 1).
Illustrated and described in detail in his 1817 advertisement, Lemuel Curtis' "girandole" timepiece has been hailed as America's most beautiful clock and this example stands as an exceedingly rare survival of this opulent model (fig. 1). So-called for its resemblance to girandole looking glasses of the era, the ornament alone of the clock was an expensive undertaking and required the talents of frame maker, carver, gilder and painter. As such, it is estimated that fewer than 100 were made during the period, of which only about thirty survive today, in varying states of preservation. The timepiece offered here is among the few with much of its original ornament, including the painted scene of Aurora in her chariot in the lower églomisé panel (see Paul J. Foley, Willard's Patent Time Pieces: A History of the Weight-Driven Banjo Clock, 1800-1900 (Norwell, Massachusetts, 2002), pp. 112-113; Lilian Baker Carlisle, "New Biographical Findings on Curtis & Dunning, Girandole Clockmakers," American Art Journal (May 1978), p. 98).
Lemuel Curtis (1790-1857) was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts and through the marriage of his mother's sister, was the nephew of Aaron Willard. As indicated by his output, he almost certainly trained with Aaron's brother Simon Willard and in 1810-11, around the time when he would have recently completed an apprenticeship, he is recorded in the tax list of his hometown, Roxbury, where Simon lived and worked. Soon after, Curtis set up his own business in Concord, Massachusetts. Like Simon Willard, Curtis was an innovator and while his early output consisted of replications of Willard's patented banjo-clock, Curtis soon began "improving" on his master's mechanical inventions. Among his developments was a new mounting system and modifications to the pendulum suspension. In 1816, he further followed in his master's footsteps by applying for and receiving a patent for an improved timepiece. While the original patent does not survive, Curtis' advertisement in 1817 indicates that it was for a girandole model (fig. 1). In this advertisement, Curtis lauded its decorative attributes, but enhanced by his technological advances, the model was also praised by Curtis for its superiority as a timekeeper and a "piece of perfect machinery." Interestingly, while most surviving examples display Roman chapter rings, the timepiece offered here, like the illustration in the advertisement, features an Arabic chapter ring. As seen on other Curtis girandole timepieces, this example is stamped by the maker on the movement's front plate, and the various components that comprise its case are each identically stamped with gouges, here III, shop marks that assisted with the assembly of the piece. Despite Curtis' promotional endeavors, the form was not a mass-market success. Paul J. Foley surmises that most were made in the short period between receiving the patent in 1816 and 1822, when Curtis relocated to Bennington, Vermont and entered into a partnership with Joseph N. Dunning (Foley, pp. 110-113, 236).
The case of this timepiece is beautifully decorated with Aurora in her chariot waving the American flag as she heralds the new day. Accompanied by the Hours in mythology, Aurora was a decorative device long favored by clockmakers, but representations of the Dawn Goddess appear to have been particularly popular in the Boston region during the early nineteenth century. Identical scenes as well as variant Aurora compositions are seen on other Curtis girandole timepieces and related depictions adorn clocks made in the Willard shops. Scenes of Aurora also appear on a tray and box, both made in Boston, as well as on a group of schoolgirl watercolors, which may have hailed from a Boston-area school (Carlisle, pp. 93-94, figs. 5-7; Foley, p. 73, fig. 166; Lester Dworetsky and Robert Dickstein, Horology Americana (Roslyn Heights, New York, 1973), p. 47; Sotheby's, New York, 18-19 January 2001, lot 766; Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. 3, P3254, p. 719 and vol. 6, P4457, p. 1455). It is very likely that the paintwork was executed by Lemuel's brother, Benjamin B. Curtis, an ornamental painter in Boston. He is known to have supplied his brother with "Frames, for the bottom of patent Timepieces" and the églomisé panel of one Curtis girandole timepiece is signed "Benj. B. Curtis" (Foley, pp. 182-183, 235; Walter H. Durfee, "The Clocks of Lemuel Curtis," The Magazine Antiques (December 1923), p. 266, frontispiece).
As indicated in a 1910 publication cited above, this girandole timepiece was owned over a century ago by Mrs. E.C. Swift. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1854, Florence Abbott Bailey married in 1872 Edwin Carleton Swift (1849-1906), who at one time owned the largest meat packing company in the country. The couple resided in Boston and on their large estate, Swiftmoor, in Beverly, Massachusetts. Soon after its first publication, the timepiece was presumably acquired by George Manton Whipple (1830-1913) as he is noted as its owner when it was published for a second time in 1919, six years after Whipple's death. George M. Whipple resided in Salem, Massachusetts (fig. 2) and later Riverside, California. The clock remained in the Whipple family until it was consigned to auction in 1992 (Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts, vol. 1 (Chicago, 1912), p. 257; Sotheby's, New York, 19 June 1992, lot 409).