Lot Essay
Paul Revere's engraved label which appears on the inside of the cupboard door of this lot and the following lot, provides detailed instructions for the owner. This label is one of three engraved by Paul Revere for Aaron Willard after 1792 when Willard relocated his shop to Boston. An earlier version is engraved "Roxbury", Willard's place of work before 1792. It is unclear whether the third label inscribed "Boston" without the additional last line of instruction dates prior to this label. For illustrations of the three labels, see Clarence Brigham's Paul Revere's Engravings, pp.177, 179, plates 57, 58.
Three related clocks located in the Old Sturbridge Village Collection are illustrated and discussed in Zea and Cheney, Clockmaking in New England 1725-1825: An Interpretation of the Old Sturbridge Village Collection (Sturbridge, Ma, 1992), pp.41-43, fig. 2-22, 2-30, and 2-32.67. Also a tall case clock with label is illustrated in Sack, American Antiques from Israel Sack, vol. 2, brochure 14, p.455, fig. 1130.
Three related clocks located in the Old Sturbridge Village Collection are illustrated and discussed in Zea and Cheney, Clockmaking in New England 1725-1825: An Interpretation of the Old Sturbridge Village Collection (Sturbridge, Ma, 1992), pp.41-43, fig. 2-22, 2-30, and 2-32.67. Also a tall case clock with label is illustrated in Sack, American Antiques from Israel Sack, vol. 2, brochure 14, p.455, fig. 1130.