.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
I give to William the old clock which has told the hours of joy and sorrow for more than a Century.
-Excerpt from 1866 will of Henry Bowen (1785-1867), cited in Donald F. Bowen, “A Clock Case by John Goddard,” The Antiquarian (August 1930), p. 74.
A supreme illustration of Providence’s block-and-shell style, this tall-case clock was a costly, extravagant form in its day and for almost two centuries, a revered family heirloom. From the boxed pediment and the abstracted petal rosettes to the door’s shell carved from the solid, the case hails hallmarks of Providence craftsmanship and speaks to the city’s burgeoning political, economic and cultural vitality in the latter half of the eighteenth century. In Rhode Island, the application of carved ornament on the base is a practice distinct to Providence-made clocks and only five others are known with such elaboration (see Gary R. Sullivan, catalogue entry, Art and Industry in Early America, Rhode Island Furniture, 1650-1830 (New Haven, Conn., 2016), pp. 319-320, cat. 62).
The clock’s first owner, Jabez Bowen (1739-1815), was one of the most prominent figures in late eighteenth-century Providence. From a wealthy family, Bowen was further enriched upon his 1762 marriage to Sarah Brown (1742-1800), whose father Obadiah (1712-1762) and first cousins, the famous Brown brothers, were the leading merchants of the city. Bowen was thus well positioned to commission a clock with not only an elaborately carved case, but a composite brass dial imported from London. This clock is one of four significant furniture forms know to have been owned by Bowen, two of which were made in 1763 by John Goddard (1724-1785) in Newport (a tea table at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and a bureau table, see lot 567 in this sale). The third, a block-and-shell chest-on-chest in the collections of the Chipstone Foundation, is attributed to Goddard’s nephew, Daniel Spencer (1741-1796) while he was working in Providence. According to Bowen’s great-great grandson, Donald Flagg Bowen (1892-1982), who later inherited the clock and authored a short article on the piece, the clock was valued at £50 in Jabez Bowen’s 1815 estate inventory. Like the tea table now at Winterthur, the clock descended along the same male lines until the 1920s. Before 1929, Donald sold the tea table to collector Philip Flayderman at whose 1929 sale it was subsequently purchased by Henry Francis du Pont. Donald appears to have kept this clock throughout his life and it first entered the marketplace in 1984, two years after his death. For more on Jabez Bowen, see lot 567 in this sale; for the other forms owned by Bowen, see RIF1424, RIF7123 (forthcoming), RIF281; Bowen, pp. 37, 74; Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur (Winterthur, Delaware, 1997), pp. 238-240, cat. 123, part).
Identifying similarities in the execution of the carved ornament as well as construction details, Patricia Kane has argued that this clock may have been made in the same shop as one other clock, a block-and-shell desk-and-bookcase, and two stylistically slightly earlier high chests. Kane points to the distinctive rendition of the center of the shells, “arcs with hooked ends,” that contrasts with the C-scrolls seen on other Providence and Newport forms. Furthermore, Kane notes that the bonnet-top desk-and-bookcase and high chest in this group feature applied blocks behind the central plinth that echo the plinth’s serpentine shaping, a detail that is also seen on the bonnet of the clock offered here (see Patricia E. Kane, catalogue entry, Art and Industry, pp. 314-318, cat. 61).
The other clock in this group, now at Brown University, shares additional details with this clock. These include imported movements, boxed pediments, similarly rendered eight-petaled rosettes and canted corners on the base that have distinctly carved “lambs-tongues” with three-petaled flowers. A third clock, with a dial signed by Providence clockmaker Seril Dodge, displays these last three details and although it has slightly variant shell carving and lacks ornament on the base, may be another product of the same shop. In their 1999 article, Wendy Cooper and Tara Gleason [Chicirda], further note the construction details shared by the Dodge clock and that offered here, as well as decorative similarities among these clocks and casepieces traditionally associated with cabinetmaker Grindall Rawson (1719-1803), including one of the high chests noted above. It is possible that Rawson’s West Providence shop may have been responsible for some of these forms (see 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), pp. 181-183, 188-192, figs. 17, 29-38).
As discussed by Cooper and Gleason, the finials on the clock are probably nineteenth-century replacements. There are no known parallels in eighteenth century America and the finials relate stylistically to English forms from the late seventeenth century. Furthermore, the turned mahogany urns were made in one piece, then cut apart to receive the metal leafage, a process that suggests an alteration rather than original construction (Cooper and Gleason, p. 204, fn. 12).
-Excerpt from 1866 will of Henry Bowen (1785-1867), cited in Donald F. Bowen, “A Clock Case by John Goddard,” The Antiquarian (August 1930), p. 74.
A supreme illustration of Providence’s block-and-shell style, this tall-case clock was a costly, extravagant form in its day and for almost two centuries, a revered family heirloom. From the boxed pediment and the abstracted petal rosettes to the door’s shell carved from the solid, the case hails hallmarks of Providence craftsmanship and speaks to the city’s burgeoning political, economic and cultural vitality in the latter half of the eighteenth century. In Rhode Island, the application of carved ornament on the base is a practice distinct to Providence-made clocks and only five others are known with such elaboration (see Gary R. Sullivan, catalogue entry, Art and Industry in Early America, Rhode Island Furniture, 1650-1830 (New Haven, Conn., 2016), pp. 319-320, cat. 62).
The clock’s first owner, Jabez Bowen (1739-1815), was one of the most prominent figures in late eighteenth-century Providence. From a wealthy family, Bowen was further enriched upon his 1762 marriage to Sarah Brown (1742-1800), whose father Obadiah (1712-1762) and first cousins, the famous Brown brothers, were the leading merchants of the city. Bowen was thus well positioned to commission a clock with not only an elaborately carved case, but a composite brass dial imported from London. This clock is one of four significant furniture forms know to have been owned by Bowen, two of which were made in 1763 by John Goddard (1724-1785) in Newport (a tea table at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and a bureau table, see lot 567 in this sale). The third, a block-and-shell chest-on-chest in the collections of the Chipstone Foundation, is attributed to Goddard’s nephew, Daniel Spencer (1741-1796) while he was working in Providence. According to Bowen’s great-great grandson, Donald Flagg Bowen (1892-1982), who later inherited the clock and authored a short article on the piece, the clock was valued at £50 in Jabez Bowen’s 1815 estate inventory. Like the tea table now at Winterthur, the clock descended along the same male lines until the 1920s. Before 1929, Donald sold the tea table to collector Philip Flayderman at whose 1929 sale it was subsequently purchased by Henry Francis du Pont. Donald appears to have kept this clock throughout his life and it first entered the marketplace in 1984, two years after his death. For more on Jabez Bowen, see lot 567 in this sale; for the other forms owned by Bowen, see RIF1424, RIF7123 (forthcoming), RIF281; Bowen, pp. 37, 74; Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur (Winterthur, Delaware, 1997), pp. 238-240, cat. 123, part).
Identifying similarities in the execution of the carved ornament as well as construction details, Patricia Kane has argued that this clock may have been made in the same shop as one other clock, a block-and-shell desk-and-bookcase, and two stylistically slightly earlier high chests. Kane points to the distinctive rendition of the center of the shells, “arcs with hooked ends,” that contrasts with the C-scrolls seen on other Providence and Newport forms. Furthermore, Kane notes that the bonnet-top desk-and-bookcase and high chest in this group feature applied blocks behind the central plinth that echo the plinth’s serpentine shaping, a detail that is also seen on the bonnet of the clock offered here (see Patricia E. Kane, catalogue entry, Art and Industry, pp. 314-318, cat. 61).
The other clock in this group, now at Brown University, shares additional details with this clock. These include imported movements, boxed pediments, similarly rendered eight-petaled rosettes and canted corners on the base that have distinctly carved “lambs-tongues” with three-petaled flowers. A third clock, with a dial signed by Providence clockmaker Seril Dodge, displays these last three details and although it has slightly variant shell carving and lacks ornament on the base, may be another product of the same shop. In their 1999 article, Wendy Cooper and Tara Gleason [Chicirda], further note the construction details shared by the Dodge clock and that offered here, as well as decorative similarities among these clocks and casepieces traditionally associated with cabinetmaker Grindall Rawson (1719-1803), including one of the high chests noted above. It is possible that Rawson’s West Providence shop may have been responsible for some of these forms (see 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), pp. 181-183, 188-192, figs. 17, 29-38).
As discussed by Cooper and Gleason, the finials on the clock are probably nineteenth-century replacements. There are no known parallels in eighteenth century America and the finials relate stylistically to English forms from the late seventeenth century. Furthermore, the turned mahogany urns were made in one piece, then cut apart to receive the metal leafage, a process that suggests an alteration rather than original construction (Cooper and Gleason, p. 204, fn. 12).