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拍品專文
"This signed clock is worth a day's journey to see."
--George Leland Miner, 1948
Revered as a Rhode Island masterpiece for over seventy-five years, this tall-case clock is a rare survival of the best of both Newport and Providence craftsmanship in the late eighteenth century. The case features an expertly carved and blocked shell, arguably the most celebrated furniture design of eighteenth-century America, and points to a Newport woodworker from or equal to the Goddard-Townsend family of cabinetmakers. Signed by Seril Dodge (1759-1802), the clock's works and dial reveal the mechanical and artistic expertise of the leading clockmaker in post-Revolutionary Providence. Part of the exhibition celebrating the 300th anniversary of Rhode Island, the clock has been on display in Providence for much of the twentieth century and upon its publication in 1948, was hailed for the beauty of its case and the handsome engraving of its dial (George Leland Miner, Angell's Lane: The History of a Little Street in Providence (Providence, 1948), pp. 78-79).
With an applied fourteen-lobed shell, the carving on the case reveals the hand of a master carver and illustrates practices indicative of its Newport origins. The shell's articulation, grace and symmetry demonstrate an assured and skilful carver well-versed in his trade. The design, with a large number of convex lobes and occupying an area slightly taller than a full semi-circle, is akin to those seen on furniture by Edmund Townsend and Daniel Goddard (see Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport (Tenafly, New Jersey, 1984), pp. 262, 263, 265, figs. 6.10, 6.11, 6.13). As seen on this clock, convex blocked shells made in Newport are carved from a separate stock and applied to the furniture case and contrast with the shells carved from the solid, the method favored by Providence woodworkers. Similarly, the clock's finials, each a corkscrew atop a ball with fluted petals, are typical of Newport craftsmanship (Wendy A. Cooper and Tara L. Gleason, "A Different Rhode Island Block-and-Shell Story: Providence Provenances and Pitch-Pediments," American Furniture 1999, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1999), p. 185).
The dial engraved in the maker's characteristic style, this clock is one of only five or six known to survive signed by Seril Dodge, the foremost clockmaker and silversmith in late eighteenth-century Providence. Born in Pomfret, Connecticut, Dodge trained under Thomas Harland (1735-1807) in Norwich and was practicing his trade in Providence by 1784. There, he purchased land from fellow Quaker and renowned merchant Moses Brown on Angell's Lane (now Thomas Street) and subsequently built two houses on the street, both of which stand today. The first, a circa 1786 two-story wooden house, was sold to Avis Binney Brown, the widow of Moses' brother Nicholas in 1791. It was in the parlor of this house that Nicholas' daughter, Hope, married Thomas Poynton Ives, the couple who may have owned the table in lot 153. The second, a larger three-story brick structure indicative of Dodge's rising stature, was erected on the adjacent lot soon after 1790 (fig. 1). In 1799, Dodge left Providence for his hometown Pomfret where he died in 1802 and this clock is ascribed to the fifteen-year period he spent in Providence. Dodge is also credited with being the city's first jeweller and it is highly likely that he executed the engraving on his silvered brass dials. Including meandering vines, scrolls, floral devices, stylized serpents (or birds) and columns, the vocabulary of motifs seen on this clock is also present in part or wholly on four of the other dials bearing his name. Almost identical column-and-scroll clusters on the lower spandrels appear on three of the four and similarly close serpent-and-scroll clusters on the upper spandrels adorn the tall-case clock formerly owned by Thomas Mellon and Betty Evans. Besides similarities in design, the delineation of the scrolls indicates the work of the same hand. All are of comparable thickness, with stubby twig-like protrusions, each meticulously shaded at the base and tip. Similar designs, but with differences in execution, are seen on the dials of Thomas Harland, Dodge's master, and Daniel Burnap (1759-1838), who probably also trained with Harland and was most likely working in the shop when Dodge was learning his craft. This clock also displays a seconds register and arched date aperture following the same layout of the dials on the tall-case clocks advertised by Israel Sack, Inc. and Gary R. Sullivan Antiques, Inc. An unusual feature seen on this clock are the engraved arcs on the reverse of the moon-face dial, possibly a device for measuring the spacing of the teeth on the outer edge. Beginning at the low-point of each tooth, each arc swirls toward the center equidistant from those on either side (Four of the other known clocks with dials signed by Dodge comprise a shelf-clock at the Rhode Island Historical Society, see Joseph K. Ott, The John Brown House Loan Exhibition of Rhode Island Furniture (Providence, 1965), pp. 126-127, no. 80, and three tall-case clocks: Sotheby's New York, Important American Furniture from the Collection of the Late Thomas Mellon and Betty Evans, 19 June 1998), lot 2022; Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack, vol. VI, p. 1615, P4706; Gary R. Sullivan Antiques, Inc., advertisement on www.antiquesandfineart.com; a fifth clock with Massachusetts-style case was advertised by R. Jorgensen Antiques at www.antiquesandfineart.com; see also Frank L. Hohmann III et al., Timeless: Masterpiece American Brass Dial Clocks (New York, 2009), pp. 102-113, 288-291, 324, 330-331, nos. 2-7, 87-88; The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF393, RIF2109, RIF3313; Miner, pp. 60-92, 102-103; Robert P. Emlen, "A House for Widow Brown: Architectural Statement and Social Position in Providence, 1791," Old-Time New England (Fall/Winter 1999), p. 5).
As recorded in the Joseph K. Ott Papers, this clock was acquired through a sealed-bid auction from the Estate of Huldah S. Barker of Tiverton, Rhode Island in 1962. Describing the clock as an "Important American Antique Offering" and the case as the work of John Goddard, the cataloguing for the auction noted that the clock had been on loan to the Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design "for many years" and that during her lifetime, Mrs. Barker had refused an offer of $15,000. Born in Sweden, Huldah (b. c.1885) was the wife of Benjamin Barker (b. c.1859) and the clock may have passed down in his family. Benjamin's paternal great great grandfather, David Barker (1749-1819) of Newport and Middletown stands as a possible first owner. His family had been prominent in the political and economic affairs of the colony since its beginnings and he descended directly from Deputy Governor James Barker (1623-1702), as did the renowned cabinetmaker John Townsend (1733-1809), making David and John third cousins. Such kinship ties may have led David to own a clock crafted in the shop of an accomplished Newport cabinetmaker. The clock may also have been made for an ancestor on his mother's side, such as Oliver Hazard (1739-1843) of Jamestown. With a paper label on the inside of the clock's door referring to the tides in Newport, the clock was most likely owned in the city at some stage during the nineteenth century, if not before. As indicated by the 1930 US Federal Census, Benjamin Barker was a lawyer and he and his wife lived on the Main Road in Tiverton. Interestingly, one of the other known clocks with dial signed by Seril Dodge was also previously owned by a Mrs. Barker. While her identity is not known, this other Mrs. Barker was noted to be from Bristol, Rhode Island, just across Mount Hope Bay from Tiverton (Gustave J.S. White, Inc., Newport (auctioneers), Newport, 25 August 1962; Richard M. Bayles, ed., History of Newport County, Rhode Island, vol. 2 (New York, 1888), pp. 762-764; Benjamin Franklin Wilbour, Little Compton Families, vol. 1 (Baltimore, Maryland, 2003), p. 38; Sotheby's, op. cit.).
--George Leland Miner, 1948
Revered as a Rhode Island masterpiece for over seventy-five years, this tall-case clock is a rare survival of the best of both Newport and Providence craftsmanship in the late eighteenth century. The case features an expertly carved and blocked shell, arguably the most celebrated furniture design of eighteenth-century America, and points to a Newport woodworker from or equal to the Goddard-Townsend family of cabinetmakers. Signed by Seril Dodge (1759-1802), the clock's works and dial reveal the mechanical and artistic expertise of the leading clockmaker in post-Revolutionary Providence. Part of the exhibition celebrating the 300th anniversary of Rhode Island, the clock has been on display in Providence for much of the twentieth century and upon its publication in 1948, was hailed for the beauty of its case and the handsome engraving of its dial (George Leland Miner, Angell's Lane: The History of a Little Street in Providence (Providence, 1948), pp. 78-79).
With an applied fourteen-lobed shell, the carving on the case reveals the hand of a master carver and illustrates practices indicative of its Newport origins. The shell's articulation, grace and symmetry demonstrate an assured and skilful carver well-versed in his trade. The design, with a large number of convex lobes and occupying an area slightly taller than a full semi-circle, is akin to those seen on furniture by Edmund Townsend and Daniel Goddard (see Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport (Tenafly, New Jersey, 1984), pp. 262, 263, 265, figs. 6.10, 6.11, 6.13). As seen on this clock, convex blocked shells made in Newport are carved from a separate stock and applied to the furniture case and contrast with the shells carved from the solid, the method favored by Providence woodworkers. Similarly, the clock's finials, each a corkscrew atop a ball with fluted petals, are typical of Newport craftsmanship (Wendy A. Cooper and Tara L. Gleason, "A Different Rhode Island Block-and-Shell Story: Providence Provenances and Pitch-Pediments," American Furniture 1999, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1999), p. 185).
The dial engraved in the maker's characteristic style, this clock is one of only five or six known to survive signed by Seril Dodge, the foremost clockmaker and silversmith in late eighteenth-century Providence. Born in Pomfret, Connecticut, Dodge trained under Thomas Harland (1735-1807) in Norwich and was practicing his trade in Providence by 1784. There, he purchased land from fellow Quaker and renowned merchant Moses Brown on Angell's Lane (now Thomas Street) and subsequently built two houses on the street, both of which stand today. The first, a circa 1786 two-story wooden house, was sold to Avis Binney Brown, the widow of Moses' brother Nicholas in 1791. It was in the parlor of this house that Nicholas' daughter, Hope, married Thomas Poynton Ives, the couple who may have owned the table in lot 153. The second, a larger three-story brick structure indicative of Dodge's rising stature, was erected on the adjacent lot soon after 1790 (fig. 1). In 1799, Dodge left Providence for his hometown Pomfret where he died in 1802 and this clock is ascribed to the fifteen-year period he spent in Providence. Dodge is also credited with being the city's first jeweller and it is highly likely that he executed the engraving on his silvered brass dials. Including meandering vines, scrolls, floral devices, stylized serpents (or birds) and columns, the vocabulary of motifs seen on this clock is also present in part or wholly on four of the other dials bearing his name. Almost identical column-and-scroll clusters on the lower spandrels appear on three of the four and similarly close serpent-and-scroll clusters on the upper spandrels adorn the tall-case clock formerly owned by Thomas Mellon and Betty Evans. Besides similarities in design, the delineation of the scrolls indicates the work of the same hand. All are of comparable thickness, with stubby twig-like protrusions, each meticulously shaded at the base and tip. Similar designs, but with differences in execution, are seen on the dials of Thomas Harland, Dodge's master, and Daniel Burnap (1759-1838), who probably also trained with Harland and was most likely working in the shop when Dodge was learning his craft. This clock also displays a seconds register and arched date aperture following the same layout of the dials on the tall-case clocks advertised by Israel Sack, Inc. and Gary R. Sullivan Antiques, Inc. An unusual feature seen on this clock are the engraved arcs on the reverse of the moon-face dial, possibly a device for measuring the spacing of the teeth on the outer edge. Beginning at the low-point of each tooth, each arc swirls toward the center equidistant from those on either side (Four of the other known clocks with dials signed by Dodge comprise a shelf-clock at the Rhode Island Historical Society, see Joseph K. Ott, The John Brown House Loan Exhibition of Rhode Island Furniture (Providence, 1965), pp. 126-127, no. 80, and three tall-case clocks: Sotheby's New York, Important American Furniture from the Collection of the Late Thomas Mellon and Betty Evans, 19 June 1998), lot 2022; Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack, vol. VI, p. 1615, P4706; Gary R. Sullivan Antiques, Inc., advertisement on www.antiquesandfineart.com; a fifth clock with Massachusetts-style case was advertised by R. Jorgensen Antiques at www.antiquesandfineart.com; see also Frank L. Hohmann III et al., Timeless: Masterpiece American Brass Dial Clocks (New York, 2009), pp. 102-113, 288-291, 324, 330-331, nos. 2-7, 87-88; The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery, RIF393, RIF2109, RIF3313; Miner, pp. 60-92, 102-103; Robert P. Emlen, "A House for Widow Brown: Architectural Statement and Social Position in Providence, 1791," Old-Time New England (Fall/Winter 1999), p. 5).
As recorded in the Joseph K. Ott Papers, this clock was acquired through a sealed-bid auction from the Estate of Huldah S. Barker of Tiverton, Rhode Island in 1962. Describing the clock as an "Important American Antique Offering" and the case as the work of John Goddard, the cataloguing for the auction noted that the clock had been on loan to the Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design "for many years" and that during her lifetime, Mrs. Barker had refused an offer of $15,000. Born in Sweden, Huldah (b. c.1885) was the wife of Benjamin Barker (b. c.1859) and the clock may have passed down in his family. Benjamin's paternal great great grandfather, David Barker (1749-1819) of Newport and Middletown stands as a possible first owner. His family had been prominent in the political and economic affairs of the colony since its beginnings and he descended directly from Deputy Governor James Barker (1623-1702), as did the renowned cabinetmaker John Townsend (1733-1809), making David and John third cousins. Such kinship ties may have led David to own a clock crafted in the shop of an accomplished Newport cabinetmaker. The clock may also have been made for an ancestor on his mother's side, such as Oliver Hazard (1739-1843) of Jamestown. With a paper label on the inside of the clock's door referring to the tides in Newport, the clock was most likely owned in the city at some stage during the nineteenth century, if not before. As indicated by the 1930 US Federal Census, Benjamin Barker was a lawyer and he and his wife lived on the Main Road in Tiverton. Interestingly, one of the other known clocks with dial signed by Seril Dodge was also previously owned by a Mrs. Barker. While her identity is not known, this other Mrs. Barker was noted to be from Bristol, Rhode Island, just across Mount Hope Bay from Tiverton (Gustave J.S. White, Inc., Newport (auctioneers), Newport, 25 August 1962; Richard M. Bayles, ed., History of Newport County, Rhode Island, vol. 2 (New York, 1888), pp. 762-764; Benjamin Franklin Wilbour, Little Compton Families, vol. 1 (Baltimore, Maryland, 2003), p. 38; Sotheby's, op. cit.).