Tall clock cases produced in the American South combined the ingenuity and artistry of their makers with inspirations from various American and European sources.
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Black walnut, chestnut, yellow pine and glass brass, steel, and iron. Case maker unknown, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, 1765–1780. 2: Tall case clock, movement by Thomas Walker (d. While American tall case clocks often emulated British examples in their forms and decoration, American clocks were quite distinct, incorporating local and cultural preferences from the selection of the woods to the choice of design or ornamentation into the finished object.įig. Specialists in America and England were often involved in the production, from casting the brass wheels for the movement, engraving or painting decoration or the maker’s name on the dial, or producing inlaid wooden elements or painted motifs and patterns to ornament the clock cases. The product of distinct crafts, a cabinetmaker or joiner built the wooden case while a clockmaker produced the mechanical movement. It wasn’t until the commencement of mass production in the early nineteenth-century that the middle class could afford to own the form.Įighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century American tall case clocks were housed in cases that ranged from the simplest box to the most ornate cabinetry. Due to the expense, clock ownership was quite limited in the eighteenth century and reflected economic status. Acquired originally for their timekeeping properties, they were functional, decorative, and costly.
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Tall case clocks, also known today as grandfather clocks, evoke a nostalgic sense of family and home.