06-03-200706-03-2007
Skinner Auctions
Skinner AuctionsBoston MA
2365Boston
June 3, 2007 11:00 AMCalender
80

Queen Anne Walnut Tall Case Clock

Sell one like this
$64,625$55,000
Auction: American Furniture & Decorative Arts - 2365Location: BostonDate / Time: June 03, 2007 11:00AM

Description:

Queen Anne Walnut Tall Case Clock, Isaac Thomas (1721-1802),Willis Town, Chester County, Pennsylvania, c. 1765, with 12-inch brass matted center dial, applied cast brass spandrels, chapter ring and maker's boss engraved, "Isaac Thomas, Willis Town" and an eight-day brass, five pillar movement with rack and snail strike and recoil escapement powered by two brass-cased weights and regulated by a strap brass pendulum rod and bob, old surface, (imperfections),ht. 99 in.

Provenance: Direct descent within the Brinton family to the consignor.

Literature: On page 73 of Worldly Goods: The Arts of Early Pennsylvania 1680-1758, Philadelphia Museum of Art, by Jack Lindsey, 1999, "Isaac Thomas settled in Willistown, Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he not only worked as a clockmaker, but also as a farmer and operator of both a saw and gristmill." See a very similar Isaac Thomas tall case clock, fig. 102. See also Arthur E. James, Chester County Clocks and Their Makers, pp. 188-199.

Note: Excerpts from a copy of a handwritten note penned by the consignor's grandmother indicates: "I am leaving my grandfather clock to Jack and Bunny. Bunny has the name and address of the man who has always taken care of it since its arrival in Cleveland. I have had it since the house at 20 West Chestnut was broken up in 1917... .
The face unquestionably came from England and the works and case were made in Willis Town, which lies between Phila & West Chester & was, incidentally, the place where my grandmother Brinton (Deborah Garrett) was born. It is scarcely more than a cross-roads.
My grandfather always wound it when he came down the stairs on Sunday morning. No one else ever touched it and so far as I can remember it never needed any repairing in its West Chester days. Its mechanism is so simple there is little to go wrong." A copy of the complete note accompanies the lot.
Estimate $40,000-60,000

Keywords

Jack Lindsey, Isaac Thomas, Willis Town, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Anne Walnut Tall Case Clock, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Willistown, clockmaker , Arthur E. James, Chester, Cleveland, Brinton, United Kingdom, Deborah Garrett