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Lot Essay
“..the statue is a good likeness of “the Father of the Republic”... There are connected with this work other devices, entirely American, which cannot fail to make it desirable to the Patriots of your country.”
-Excerpt from letter, Nicolas Dubuc to an unnamed Baltimore gentleman, 1815.
Embodied with symbolism of American distinctiveness, strength and unity, these mantel clocks with the figure of George Washington have long stood as iconic representations of the country and for many, Dubuc’s words cited above ring as true today as they did two hundred years ago. Entitled “French Ingenuity,” an excerpt of Dubuc’s letter was printed in advertisements for these clocks in newspapers in Philadelphia, Charleston and Raleigh in 1815 and in the same year, clocks with “a large figure of Washington” were advertised in New York. Approximately thirty examples of these clocks are known today and in addition to displaying two variations on the likeness of Washington, were made in large and small sizes. Standing over 19 in. tall, the example offered here is the larger of the two, the one that Dubuc notes in his letter would have cost between 300 and 320 francs as opposed to the price of 220 to 250 francs for the 15 in. high model (for the smaller model, see lot 690 in this sale). Made beginning in 1815 rather than in the few years following Washington’s death, the clocks were not simply a memorial to the first President but also a response to the undercurrents of American life following the War of 1812. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814 and as noted by Peter Kenny, “In this context the Washington clocks can be read as allegories for a renewed sense of national purpose and identity, as well harbingers of the next chapter in American political life… And Washington, the father of our nation, whose exploits and attributes were already engraved in the minds of all Americans, stood in 1815 as the great unifying symbol of the nation” (Lara Pascali, “’Desirable to the Patriots’: French Washington Clocks for the American Market” (Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, 2006–2007), cited in Baltimore Museum of Art, “Symbols of the New Republic,” (Teacher’s Guide, 2014), available at artbma.org; Peter Kenny, “Going for the Gold: Two French Ormolu Washington Clocks at Classical American Homes Preservation Trust,” https://classicalamericanhomes.org/going-for-gold, accessed 10 July 2016).
Owned by the same family for over a hundred years, the earliest known owner of this clock was Perla May Knecht (1881-1957) of Easton, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Abraham Shimer Knecht (1828-1908) and Anne Louise Adler (1845-1902) and may have inherited the clock from her grandparents or great grandparents in the Knecht, Adler, Shimer and Moffett families. After Perla’s death, the clock passed to her niece, Elsie L. Peters (1895-1986), who was the daughter of Jessie L. (McKeen) Peters (1866-1953), Perla’s half-sister. Married three times, Elsie lived for most of her life in Philadelphia, where she was buried with her parents in the City’s Ivy Hill Cemetery.
-Excerpt from letter, Nicolas Dubuc to an unnamed Baltimore gentleman, 1815.
Embodied with symbolism of American distinctiveness, strength and unity, these mantel clocks with the figure of George Washington have long stood as iconic representations of the country and for many, Dubuc’s words cited above ring as true today as they did two hundred years ago. Entitled “French Ingenuity,” an excerpt of Dubuc’s letter was printed in advertisements for these clocks in newspapers in Philadelphia, Charleston and Raleigh in 1815 and in the same year, clocks with “a large figure of Washington” were advertised in New York. Approximately thirty examples of these clocks are known today and in addition to displaying two variations on the likeness of Washington, were made in large and small sizes. Standing over 19 in. tall, the example offered here is the larger of the two, the one that Dubuc notes in his letter would have cost between 300 and 320 francs as opposed to the price of 220 to 250 francs for the 15 in. high model (for the smaller model, see lot 690 in this sale). Made beginning in 1815 rather than in the few years following Washington’s death, the clocks were not simply a memorial to the first President but also a response to the undercurrents of American life following the War of 1812. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814 and as noted by Peter Kenny, “In this context the Washington clocks can be read as allegories for a renewed sense of national purpose and identity, as well harbingers of the next chapter in American political life… And Washington, the father of our nation, whose exploits and attributes were already engraved in the minds of all Americans, stood in 1815 as the great unifying symbol of the nation” (Lara Pascali, “’Desirable to the Patriots’: French Washington Clocks for the American Market” (Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, 2006–2007), cited in Baltimore Museum of Art, “Symbols of the New Republic,” (Teacher’s Guide, 2014), available at artbma.org; Peter Kenny, “Going for the Gold: Two French Ormolu Washington Clocks at Classical American Homes Preservation Trust,” https://classicalamericanhomes.org/going-for-gold, accessed 10 July 2016).
Owned by the same family for over a hundred years, the earliest known owner of this clock was Perla May Knecht (1881-1957) of Easton, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Abraham Shimer Knecht (1828-1908) and Anne Louise Adler (1845-1902) and may have inherited the clock from her grandparents or great grandparents in the Knecht, Adler, Shimer and Moffett families. After Perla’s death, the clock passed to her niece, Elsie L. Peters (1895-1986), who was the daughter of Jessie L. (McKeen) Peters (1866-1953), Perla’s half-sister. Married three times, Elsie lived for most of her life in Philadelphia, where she was buried with her parents in the City’s Ivy Hill Cemetery.