• Christies auction house James Christie logo

    Sale 2030

    Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Maritime Art and Prints

    New York

    |

    25 September 2008

    Browse Sale
Previous Lot
Search
Next Lot
    • A FEDERAL INLAID MAHOGANY
    Lot 48

    A FEDERAL INLAID MAHOGANY ''ROCKING-SHIP'' TALL-CASE CLOCK

    DIAL SIGNED BY GARDNER PARKER (1772-1816), WESTBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1790

    Price realised

    USD 27,500

    Estimate

    USD 12,000 - USD 18,000

    Follow lot
    Add to Interests

    A FEDERAL INLAID MAHOGANY "ROCKING-SHIP" TALL-CASE CLOCK
    DIAL SIGNED BY GARDNER PARKER (1772-1816), WESTBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1790
    Dial signed Warranted by G. Parker
    94¼ in. high, 18 7/8 in. wide, 9¾ in. deep

    Contact us

    • Contact Client Service

      info@christies.com

      New York +1 212 636 2000

      London +44 (0)20 7839 9060

      infoasia@christies.com

      Asia +852 2760 1766

    Lot Essay

    Gardner Parker was born in Hubbardston, Massachusetts on March 14, 1772. He was apprenticed to one of the Willards, most probably Benjamin, in Grafton, Massachusetts. Upon completion of his apprenticeship, Parker set up shop in Westborough, Massachusetts and lived there throughout most of his working career. Known for his tower clocks, tall-case clocks and shelf clocks, Parker also advertised large clocks for steeples and eight-day spring clocks in the local publications of his day (Paul J. Foley, Willard's Patent Time Pieces (Norwell, Massachusetts, 2002), p. 295). Parker was involved in several civil lawsuits throughout his life, including a case in June 1793 when Parker sued Benjamin Willard for withholding payment dues (Foley, pp. 294-295). In January 1815, one year before his death, Parker moved from Westborough to Northborough, Massachusetts. Possibly as a result of his financial difficulties, Parker ended his own life on February 16, 1816 (Brooks Palmer, The Book of American Clocks (New York, 1950), p. 255).

    A closely related tall-case clock by Gardner Parker is in the collection of Old Sturbridge Village (fig. 1; Philip Zea and Robert C. Cheney, Clock Making in New England 1725-1825: An Interpretation of the Old Sturbridge Village Collection (Sturbridge, Massachusetts, 1992), p. 88, fig. 18). The two dials share similar rocking ship movements against painted seascapes. Equally notable are their nearly matching case designs. Each has inlaid oval reserves on the case door and base, inlaid stringing with rounded corners, and an inlaid and veneered band above the skirt.

    Other information

    Pre-Lot Text

    VARIOUS PROPERTIES

    Recommended features

      • The tastemaker: Frank de Biasi
      • The tastemaker: Frank de Biasi’s Rockefeller selections

        The New York City-based interior designer selects his favourite pieces from the Rockefeller Collection

      • ‘Had she been a man she could
      • ‘Had she been a man she could have commanded an army’

        An in-depth profile of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, wife, mother, influential patron of modern art and co-founder of MoMA

      • I bought it at Christie’s
      • I bought it at Christie’s

        Celebrity estate agent Josh Flagg on how he acquired a gilt mirror and other treasures formerly owned by Betsy Bloomingdale

      • Collecting Guide: Key periods
      • Collecting Guide: Key periods of American furniture

        Our guide to the forms, ornamentations and carving styles, illustrated with lots from our Important American Furniture  sale on 19 January 

      • Live like a Rockefeller — Pabl
      • Live like a Rockefeller — Pablo Picasso’s Pomme

        Jonathan Rendell, Christie’s ’story teller’ for The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, looks at a painting that gives him ‘goose-bumps’

      • 5 minutes with… An early al-Tu
      • 5 minutes with… An early al-Tusi astronomical manuscript

        Islamic art specialist Romain Pingannaud on a 13th-century copy of a key compendium on astronomy and mathemetics

Share
Email
Copy link
Share
Email
Copy link