A clock-maker well known in and around Boston in the last half of the
eighteenth century was Gawen Brown, who had a shop on State Street, and
who made the clock upon the Old South Church, in Boston. A letter is
still preserved which he wrote asking permission to make a clock for
the Society, and he “Promises and Engages that the same shall be put Up
and continued there forever.”
[Illustration: Illus. 344.—Gawen Brown Clock, 1765.]
This handsome offer was made in 1768 but not until 1774 did the town
act, when they voted to “purchase the Clock of Gawen Brown.”
[Illustration: Illus. 345.—Tall Clock, 1780.]
A Gawen Brown clock is shown in Illustration 344, made for his
father-in-law, the Rev. Mather Byles. The case is pine painted and the
shape of the top and the general appearance would indicate that it was
an early effort made before 1768. It is still running in the rooms of
the Bostonian Society, in the Old State House in Boston.
The clock in Illustration 345 was made by Gawen Brown, and is in a very
handsome mahogany case. It is also owned by the Bostonian Society.
Illustration 346 shows a clock owned by the writer, and is given as an
example of the use of curly maple, of which the entire case is made. It
is unusually tall, over eight feet in height.
The clock in Illustration 347 was made by David Rittenhouse, in
Philadelphia, and is owned by Charles D. Clark, Esq., of Philadelphia.
David Rittenhouse was a maker of clocks and mathematical instruments,
and an astronomer. He held various positions of importance, and was
State Treasurer of Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary war, and
President of The American Philosophical Society. This clock has a very
handsome case of mahogany with fine inlaying, and possesses seven
dials. The large dial has three hands, two for the hours and minutes,
and the third to point the day of the month. This is set on the first
day of each month. At the two upper corners are two small dials, one of
which is set to designate which of the twelve tunes shall be played,
and the other has on it “strike” and “silent,” also for the tunes.
Above, the moon shows its phases and the sun rises and sets every day.
Upon the round dial below, the planets revolve around the sun.
[Illustration: Illus. 346.—Maple Clock, 1770.]
[Illustration: Illus. 347.—Rittenhouse Clock, 1770.]
Illustration 348 shows a tall clock in a mahogany case made about 1770.
The maker’s name is Richard Simestere, Birmingham, but I can find no
record of him in Britten or elsewhere. The shape of the clock-case,
particularly the top, is modelled after a Chippendale design.
[Illustration: Illus. 348.—Tall Clock, about 1700.]
The columns at the corners of the case, sometimes fluted and sometimes
plain, are characteristic of Chippendale, and appear on the majority of
tall clocks made after 1760. This clock is owned by Francis H. Bigelow,
Esq., of Cambridge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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