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Shelf Clock

Aaron Willard

Shelf Clock

1814-1824

Scroll

Aaron Willard

Shelf Clock

1814-1824

Physical Qualities Cherry, white pine, paint, gilt, glass, metal, enamel, brass, Overall: 34 7/8 x 13 3/8 x 6 in. (88.6 x 34 x 15.2 cm) Case: 29 1/8 in. (74 cm)
Credit Line Gift of Mrs. Francis White, from the Collection of Mrs. Miles White, Jr.
Object Number 1973.76.233.1
Aaron Willard, the youngest of four clock-making brothers working in and around Boston, ran what was essentially a factory that efficiently produced clocks in great numbers. But American clocks with whitepainted cases are rare and probably were “bespoke”—specifically ordered by individual clients. Although this eight-day clock was created as a practical household instrument for measuring the passage of time, its elegant decoration invites a more poetic response. The pineapple was an important symbol of welcome in colonial and Federal America. The painted image of a young lady garlanding a sheep with a chain of flowers conjures a romanticized bucolic existence far from the “time-is-money” commercial climate of the United States, which witnessed Willard’s clock factory as a harbinger of mass production.
Mrs. Miles White Jr., Baltimore; Francis White; Nancy Brewster White (Mrs. Francis); Baltimore Museum of Art, by gift, 1973
PAINT! Japanned, Ebonised, Grained, and Polychromed Furniture in the Baltimore Museum of Art
2007-12-31 19:00:00

AMW Reinstallation 2014

American Wing Rotations 2020

American Wing Rotations 2021

American Wing Rotations 2022

American Wing Rotations 2023

American Wing Rotations 2024

American Wing Rotations 2025
Miller, Edgar G. American Antique Furniture: Book for Amateurs. Vol 2, Baltimore, Lord Baltimore Press, 1937, p. 959, no. 1922, ill. p. 961.
Elder III, William Voss and Jayne E. Stokes. American Furniture 1680-1880: From the Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore: Museum of Art, 1987, p.122-123, ill. 88.

Clockmaker

Aaron Willard

1756–1843

1757-1844
Meet Aaron Willard

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