Riley Whiting Painted Tall Clock

Description:

Riley Whiting Painted Tall Clock, Winchester, Connecticut, case attributed to Abraham Cole and decorated by his son, Rufus Cole (1804-1874),Broadalbin, New York, c. 1830, the painted wooden dial with floral spandrels and classical urn in the arch, Arabic numerals and inscribed R. Whiting, Winchester, faux rosewood grain-painted surface on the front and sides with prominent stenciled decoration on the hood, waist, and base including cornucopia, oak leaves, and three American eagles, the base panel with central fruit basket and signed along the skirting R. Cole, Painter, thirty-hour wooden movement with countwheel strike, tin-cased weights and pendulum, ht. 84 1/2 in.

Note: A very closely related example of a Rufus Cole painted case is in the J. Cheney Wells Collection at Old Sturbridge Village and is illustrated and discussed in Philip Zea and Robert C. Cheney, Clock Making in New England, 1725-1825, pp. 90, 125-6. For another example see Philip E. Morris, Jr., American Wooden Movement Tall Clocks, 1712-1835, pp. 158-9.
Estimate $8,000-10,000

No significant condition issues. Scroll top splits reglued, original finials and painted decoration, dial undisturbed, period components, hands, weights, and pendulum.

Keywords