拍品专文
The addition of a lunar dial and day-of-the-week hand on this miniature tall-case clock is exceedingly rare and may be unique. The decoration of the dial is closely related to another miniature tall-case clock by Reuben Tower, made for Isaac Wilder in 1816. See American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection (1965), vol. 2, no. 836.
This is only one of two known dwarf tall-case clocks with lunar dial, sweep second, day-of-the-month and day-of-the-week hands. Signed and dated, 'Reuben Tower, Hingham, 1816,' the other lunar dial dwarf clock has a nearly identical face and case but is signed 'Joshua Wilder, Hingham' (see Christie's, June 2, 1990, lot 262). The similarity between these clocks speaks of a relationship between the two craftsmen. Scholars believe that Tower (1795-1820) apprenticed with Wilder (1786-1860) in Hingham where he made this clock in this twenty-first year. Tower then moved to Hanover where he worked as a journeyman until 1818 and he then moved to Kingston and Plymouth before this return to Hingham after 1819. The bonds between Tower and Wilder continued for Wilder's son, Ezra, who took over his father's business at this death, married Tower's daughter Rebecca in 1841 (Bailey, p. 52; Zea and Cheney, pp. 102-104).
This clock is the most elaborate example associated with the work of Reuben Tower. The hood, fret, waist, base and French feet of this clock strongly resemble a scaled down version of a Simon or Aaron Willard Rosbury tall-clock case and it is evident that the cabinetmaker who constructed the cases for Tower, Wilder and other South Shore clockmakers such as Peter Hawkes Cushing, was familiar with the products of Boston area craftsmen. These clockmakers could not compete with urban tall-case clock manufacturers so they tied into the market by specializing in dwarf clocks which craftsmen like Tower made almost exclusively (Zea and Cheney, p. 102).
A related Reuben Tower clock is in the collection of Old Sturbridge Village (Zea and Cheney, Clockmaking in New England (Sturbridge, 1992), p. 106). See also The Magazine Antiques (April 1968):415. the shield-painted spandrels on the face of this clock were motifs that Tower used on a grandmother clock that he made for Isaac Wilder also in 1816 (Sack, II (1966), p. 336, no. 836) and they embellish the spandrels of a dwarf clock made by Joshua Wilder that sold at Sotheby's, June 23-24, 1993, lot 463.
This is only one of two known dwarf tall-case clocks with lunar dial, sweep second, day-of-the-month and day-of-the-week hands. Signed and dated, 'Reuben Tower, Hingham, 1816,' the other lunar dial dwarf clock has a nearly identical face and case but is signed 'Joshua Wilder, Hingham' (see Christie's, June 2, 1990, lot 262). The similarity between these clocks speaks of a relationship between the two craftsmen. Scholars believe that Tower (1795-1820) apprenticed with Wilder (1786-1860) in Hingham where he made this clock in this twenty-first year. Tower then moved to Hanover where he worked as a journeyman until 1818 and he then moved to Kingston and Plymouth before this return to Hingham after 1819. The bonds between Tower and Wilder continued for Wilder's son, Ezra, who took over his father's business at this death, married Tower's daughter Rebecca in 1841 (Bailey, p. 52; Zea and Cheney, pp. 102-104).
This clock is the most elaborate example associated with the work of Reuben Tower. The hood, fret, waist, base and French feet of this clock strongly resemble a scaled down version of a Simon or Aaron Willard Rosbury tall-clock case and it is evident that the cabinetmaker who constructed the cases for Tower, Wilder and other South Shore clockmakers such as Peter Hawkes Cushing, was familiar with the products of Boston area craftsmen. These clockmakers could not compete with urban tall-case clock manufacturers so they tied into the market by specializing in dwarf clocks which craftsmen like Tower made almost exclusively (Zea and Cheney, p. 102).
A related Reuben Tower clock is in the collection of Old Sturbridge Village (Zea and Cheney, Clockmaking in New England (Sturbridge, 1992), p. 106). See also The Magazine Antiques (April 1968):415. the shield-painted spandrels on the face of this clock were motifs that Tower used on a grandmother clock that he made for Isaac Wilder also in 1816 (Sack, II (1966), p. 336, no. 836) and they embellish the spandrels of a dwarf clock made by Joshua Wilder that sold at Sotheby's, June 23-24, 1993, lot 463.