A QUEEN ANNE WALNUT TALL-CASE CLOCK

WORKS SIGNED BY WILLIAM CLAGGETT (1696-AFTER 1746), NEWPORT, CIRCA 1740

Details

A QUEEN ANNE WALNUT TALL-CASE CLOCK
Works signed by William Claggett (1696-after 1746), Newport, circa 1740
The stepped molded pediment above a rectangular glazed door enclosing a conforming brass dial centering Arabic and Roman chapter rings enclosing a sweep seconds ring and calendar aperture "Will Claggett/Newport," with cast-brass spandrels, all flanked by engaged colonettes over a coved mid-molding above a waisted case centering a rectangular and thumbmolded door over a rectangular box, on a molded base
89in. high, 17in. wide, 10in. deep

Provenance

John S. Walton, Inc., Jewett City, Connecticut
Sold in these Rooms, The Collection of Kay and Richard Barrett, 17 June 1997, lot 299

Lot Essay

William Claggett was a clockmaker, engraver, and amateur scientist born in Wales. He immigrated to Boston in 1708 at the age of twelve and learned to craft superior clocks possibly from Benjamin Bagnall (P. Zea and R. Cheney, Clock Making in New England (Sturbridge, MA, 1992), pp. 13-14.) He started a business in Boston, but later moved to Newport, most probably to seek greater profit. He succeeded in establishing an extremely successful shop in addition to a position in the political life of the community. It is thought that he was introduced to Benjamin Franklin as a result of his experiments with electricity. Another William Claggett tall case clock is illustrated in Brooks Palmer, The Book of American Clocks (New York, 1950), no. 14, and now in the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society.