READING, PENNSYLVANIA, 1750-1780

Made of mahogany and profusely decorated with applied carved ornament, the case of this tall-case clock is an outstanding example of the Reading school, which flourished at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries in Pennsylvania’s Berks County. Besides the appliqué, the carved dentils and molding in the swan’s-neck pediment and double-lobed shaping to the top of the door are also details employed by craftsmen working in this tradition. As noted by Alan Miller, virtually all survivals from this school are clock cases and a single high chest represents the only known instance of a variant form in this group (for the high chest, see Christie’s, New York, 21 January 2010, lot 354; for a related clock case with works signed by Jacob Klingman (1758-1806), see Christie’s, New York, 20 January 2012, lot 129; for an additional example with works signed by Benjamin Hill, Jr. see Christie's, New York, 19 January 2018, lot 168.)