Queen Anne Walnut Tall Clock by William Claggett

Description:

Queen Anne Walnut Tall Clock by William Claggett, Newport, Rhode Island, c. 1725, saecophagus top, gilded ball finials, rectangular waist door, base molding and glazed door with engaged columns opening to reveal the 11 1/2-inch square brass dial with cast spandrels, silvered name boss signed Will Claggett, Newport, chapter ring with Roman numerals, half, quarter and "half quarter" markings, seconds dial, matted center, pierced steel hands and brass eight-day time and strike, five-pillar movement (central pillar latched) with recoil escapement and rack strike regulated by a second's pendulum and powered by two lead weights, ht. 89 in.

Provenance: According to material inside the waist door, the clock passed from the family of the original owner, Samuel Gorton, Bowen's Hill, Summit, Rhode Island to early collector William H. Putnam, Hartford, Connecticut, purchased at Skinner, January 1992 by Robert C. Cheney and thence to a prominent Connecticut collection.

William Claggett arrived in Boston at the age of 12 in 1708. By 1715 he advertised as a "Clockmaker near the Town-House" but moved to Newport shortly thereafter. This important colonial clockmaker is discussed in Philip Zea and Robert C. Cheney, Clock Making in New England, 1725-1825,pp. 13-15 and endnote #23, p. 26, lists other known Claggett clocks in the literature and in museum collections.
Estimate $60,000-80,000

No significant repairs, replacements or restoration, a small horizontal backing of the original sarcophagus top is added to replace original paper dust cover, appears to retain the original glass in the hood door, weights, pendulum and key appear to be the original, the original finish simply disintegrated and was never stripped or abrasively removed, presently, the clock is in a replenished colored wax surface, finials re-gilded to conform to original treatment, brass dial elements cleaned, silvering renewed.

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