NEW YORK OR NEW JERSEY, 1790-1810

Adorned with specialist-made inlay and geometric reserves, the case of this tall-case clock is a particularly fine example of Neoclassical design in the early Republic. The spreadwing eagle celebrates the emergence of the new nation, while the urn with drapery in the tympanum refers to the Classical traditions that inspired the fashions of the Federal era. With an arched door, oval door reserve, circular reserve on the base and flaring French feet, this clock well illustrates the designs favored by New York and New Jersey cabinetmakers of the period. Previously, eagle inlay of the same eighteen-star design was thought to be unique to the Boston area and hence, a locally made product (Benjamin A. Hewitt et al., The Work of Many Hands: Card Tables in Federal America, 1790-1820 (New Haven, 1982), pp. 78, 84, inlay no. 129). This clock and at least one other New York form, however, suggest that a specialist inlay maker had a wide market for his products. For Boston tables with the same combination of inlaid ornament, see David L. Barquist, American Tables and Looking Glasses in the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (New Haven, 1992), pp. 197-201, cat. 98-99; for a New York card table with virtually identical eagle inlay, see Ginsburg & Levy, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (June 1968), p. 707.