Lot Essay
The intricately and delicately carved original bird cartouche and flame finials of this bold architectonic form make this tall case clock both a superlative example of Philadelphia cabinetry and, more importantly, one of only a few rare survivals of case and embellishment. With its engraved mixed metal dialface, this clock is also the ultimate joining of Enlightenment rational and scientific enquiry with rococo aesthetics. Edward Duffield (1720-1801) produced some of the most important examples of this form.
The variety of style and quality in cases associated with Duffield's work is considerable. Duffield's estate inventory records a large number of wood working tools including tenant and compass saws, as well as jack, fore, plow, smoothing and groove planes (57 types of planes total). Accordingly, it has been suggested that Duffield's shop was sufficiently large that several cases housing his works may have come from his own shop (see Ian Quimby, "Edward Duffield, Artisian Gentleman" unpublished, University of Delaware, January 1963, pp. 14-15). Their range of appearance, however, shows that his shop was not manufacturing all his cases and that a sizeable portion of them were jobbed out. Several of Philadelphia's most prominent cabinet makers including Solomon Fussel, Benjamin Randolph, Henry Clifton, and Thomas Affleck are also known to have made cases for Duffield. While it is unknown who the cabinetmaker of the tall case clock illustrated here was, the distinctive carved finials and cartouche is the work of Nicholas Bernard and Martin Jugiez, both of whom are known to have carved for Philadelphia's most prominent cabinetmakers. With their almost signature tripartite flame configuration and neatly laminated, four-punched and scooped out cartouche, the ornamental carving of this tall case clock relates it to other carving associated with Bernard and Jugiez (see Beckerdite, "Philadelphia Carving Shops: Part II Bernard and Jugiez," The Magazine Antiques, September 1985, pp. 498-513).
Edward Duffield was both one of Philadelphia's most prominent clockmakers as well as most prominent citizens. Born in 1720 outside Philadelphia in Lower Dublin Township, Philadelphia County, Duffield established himself as a watch and clockmaker early in the 1740s. Duffield advertised only sporadically in the Pennsylvania Gazette between 1765 and 1775; perhaps Duffield's best advertisement, however, and the reason that so few notices of his talents exist, was the public clock he made which hung outside his shop after the late 1740s. In addition to his work as a watch and clockmaker, Duffield also succeeded Thomas Stretch as Keeper of the State House clock for 13 years before being succeeded himself by David Rittenhouse. His public-spiritedness and patriotism was well-noted in its day: not only was he petitioned by local silversmiths in 1767 to be named an asseyor, he was jailed during England's occupation of Philadelphia during the American Revolution, and he was named one of several executors of Benjamin Franklin's estate. Upon his own death in 1801, Duffield's personal wealth was valued at the considerable sum of $22,774.22, excluding the value of his real estate.
There are two clocks presently in museum collections that most directly relate to the Duffield clock illustrated here. These include a clock formerly in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and now in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg (see Girl Scout Loan Catalogue, no. 607); as well as a clock in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art illustrated and discussed in Elder & Stokes, American Furniture, 1680-1880 from the Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, 1987), pp. 115-116, fig. 83. The finials and cartouche on the latter clock were copied directly from the Duffield clock offered here.
The variety of style and quality in cases associated with Duffield's work is considerable. Duffield's estate inventory records a large number of wood working tools including tenant and compass saws, as well as jack, fore, plow, smoothing and groove planes (57 types of planes total). Accordingly, it has been suggested that Duffield's shop was sufficiently large that several cases housing his works may have come from his own shop (see Ian Quimby, "Edward Duffield, Artisian Gentleman" unpublished, University of Delaware, January 1963, pp. 14-15). Their range of appearance, however, shows that his shop was not manufacturing all his cases and that a sizeable portion of them were jobbed out. Several of Philadelphia's most prominent cabinet makers including Solomon Fussel, Benjamin Randolph, Henry Clifton, and Thomas Affleck are also known to have made cases for Duffield. While it is unknown who the cabinetmaker of the tall case clock illustrated here was, the distinctive carved finials and cartouche is the work of Nicholas Bernard and Martin Jugiez, both of whom are known to have carved for Philadelphia's most prominent cabinetmakers. With their almost signature tripartite flame configuration and neatly laminated, four-punched and scooped out cartouche, the ornamental carving of this tall case clock relates it to other carving associated with Bernard and Jugiez (see Beckerdite, "Philadelphia Carving Shops: Part II Bernard and Jugiez," The Magazine Antiques, September 1985, pp. 498-513).
Edward Duffield was both one of Philadelphia's most prominent clockmakers as well as most prominent citizens. Born in 1720 outside Philadelphia in Lower Dublin Township, Philadelphia County, Duffield established himself as a watch and clockmaker early in the 1740s. Duffield advertised only sporadically in the Pennsylvania Gazette between 1765 and 1775; perhaps Duffield's best advertisement, however, and the reason that so few notices of his talents exist, was the public clock he made which hung outside his shop after the late 1740s. In addition to his work as a watch and clockmaker, Duffield also succeeded Thomas Stretch as Keeper of the State House clock for 13 years before being succeeded himself by David Rittenhouse. His public-spiritedness and patriotism was well-noted in its day: not only was he petitioned by local silversmiths in 1767 to be named an asseyor, he was jailed during England's occupation of Philadelphia during the American Revolution, and he was named one of several executors of Benjamin Franklin's estate. Upon his own death in 1801, Duffield's personal wealth was valued at the considerable sum of $22,774.22, excluding the value of his real estate.
There are two clocks presently in museum collections that most directly relate to the Duffield clock illustrated here. These include a clock formerly in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and now in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg (see Girl Scout Loan Catalogue, no. 607); as well as a clock in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art illustrated and discussed in Elder & Stokes, American Furniture, 1680-1880 from the Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, 1987), pp. 115-116, fig. 83. The finials and cartouche on the latter clock were copied directly from the Duffield clock offered here.