拍品專文
This rare clock with high pitched broken swan's-neck pediment and French feet is distinctive to Federal tall case clocks produced in New York and northern New Jersey.
Embellished with inlaid stars, urns, stringing and astragal reserves this clock is an urban form although it was made in rural Orange County, New York. Initially working in New York City, Robert Wood and James S. or Jacob Taylor retained a sense of urban fashion. To escape a small pox epidemic in New York City, they moved to Florida in about 1810 when Robert Wood and James S. Taylor are listed as residents in the 1810 Orange County census. According to the New York City directories, Robert Wood is registered as a cabinetmaker 1808-1811 and James S. Taylor's dates are 1802-1804 and 1812-1819. Jacob Taylor, who may have been the other partner, is recorded working in 1808 in New York City. He appears again in the 1820 Federal census living in Goshen, New York, six miles from Florida, but in the same census Robert Wood has returned to New York City.
A labelled Wood and Taylor tall case clock that is closely related to the clock offered here (see fig. 1) is in the collection of the New York State Museum in Albany and is illustrated in Scherer, New York Furniture, The Federal Period, 1788-1825 (Albany, 1988), p. 11; Scherer, New York Furniture at the New York State Museum (Alexandria, 1984), p. 36, no. 32; and in Antiques (May 1981), p. 1117. Another similar tall case clock with a signed Wood & Taylor dial was in a private collection in 1973 in Warwick, New York near Florida. Located on its pediment are the mispelled initials "RH" for Richard Edsell, a Warwick resident and great grandfather of the owner. This clock sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., April 30-May 3, 1980, lot 1387. Another similar clock which is not labelled is in the collection of the Winterthur Museum (see Montgomery, American Furniture, The Federal Period (New York, 1966), no. 154). A Federal inlaid cherrywood stand with the Wood and Taylor makers' brand is located at the New York State Museum in Albany and is illustrated in Antiques (May 1981), p. 1123.
Embellished with inlaid stars, urns, stringing and astragal reserves this clock is an urban form although it was made in rural Orange County, New York. Initially working in New York City, Robert Wood and James S. or Jacob Taylor retained a sense of urban fashion. To escape a small pox epidemic in New York City, they moved to Florida in about 1810 when Robert Wood and James S. Taylor are listed as residents in the 1810 Orange County census. According to the New York City directories, Robert Wood is registered as a cabinetmaker 1808-1811 and James S. Taylor's dates are 1802-1804 and 1812-1819. Jacob Taylor, who may have been the other partner, is recorded working in 1808 in New York City. He appears again in the 1820 Federal census living in Goshen, New York, six miles from Florida, but in the same census Robert Wood has returned to New York City.
A labelled Wood and Taylor tall case clock that is closely related to the clock offered here (see fig. 1) is in the collection of the New York State Museum in Albany and is illustrated in Scherer, New York Furniture, The Federal Period, 1788-1825 (Albany, 1988), p. 11; Scherer, New York Furniture at the New York State Museum (Alexandria, 1984), p. 36, no. 32; and in Antiques (May 1981), p. 1117. Another similar tall case clock with a signed Wood & Taylor dial was in a private collection in 1973 in Warwick, New York near Florida. Located on its pediment are the mispelled initials "RH" for Richard Edsell, a Warwick resident and great grandfather of the owner. This clock sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., April 30-May 3, 1980, lot 1387. Another similar clock which is not labelled is in the collection of the Winterthur Museum (see Montgomery, American Furniture, The Federal Period (New York, 1966), no. 154). A Federal inlaid cherrywood stand with the Wood and Taylor makers' brand is located at the New York State Museum in Albany and is illustrated in Antiques (May 1981), p. 1123.