RHODE ISLAND, PROBABLY NEWPORT, 1770-1790

Monumental in scale and embellished with a second carved shell in the base, this tall-case clock is an exceptional example of Rhode Island's celebrated block-and-shell furniture. Despite its boxed pediment, a feature often associated with Providence craftsmanship, the execution of the carved details follows practices seen in Newport work. As discussed by Wendy Cooper and Tara Gleason Chircida, boxed pediments are often found on Providence block-and-shell case pieces and their relative popularity in that city may have been inspired by the similar design seen on the stately house built by Joseph Brown in 1773-1774. Newport cabinetmakers, however, may have also employed this feature and at least one tall-case clock with a boxed pediment has been attributed to Newport (Wendy A. Cooper and Tara L. Gleason [Chircida], "A Different Rhode Island Block-and-Shell Story: Providence Provenances and Pitch-Pediments," American Furniture 1999, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, WI: The Chipstone Foundation, 1999), pp. 170-171, 185, fig. 7; Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards (Tenafly, NJ, 1984), p. 289, fig. 7.17).
Revealing learned habits of workmanship, the details of the case construction are more indicative of its origins. The shells on this clock are applied and the rosettes in the pediment are carved from the solid, practices that are in keeping with Newport work and contrast with those of Providence (Cooper and Gleason, pp. 185-186). A related clock, with the same combination of boxed pediment and Newport construction, sold Christie's New York, May 29, 2002, lot 134. Another clock case, lacking the shell in the base, displays a virtually identical bonnet with the same upright stance in the bonnet molding and may have been made in the same shop (Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, The Garbisch Collection, May 23-25, 1980, lot 1064).