The white enameled dial of this tall case clock is English-made, but William Cummins, an American clockmaker, used it. At the time, painted metal dials were regularly exported to the United States; Cummins has signed this one boldly in the center. His eight day works are housed in an elegant cabinet that belongs to the “Roxbury group,” named for the numerous cabinetmakers who were active in Roxbury, a Boston suburb noted for clock production by the Willard family and others requiring cases for their timepieces. The tall, slim proportions of the case are emphasized by quarter round columns edging the waist, or center section, as well as full columns bracketing the clock face. Embellished with brass stop fluting, the columns are topped with gilt brass Doric capitals that, upside down, also serve as column bases. Fabric behind carved fretwork in the bonnet top and sides conceals openings that allowed the clock’s chime to be heard more easily. While Cummins’ life is not well documented, we do know that he was an apprentice of famed clockmaker Simon Willard, that he spent his career in Roxbury, and that he had sales agents as far away as Philadelphia and Rhode Island. Recent research allows us to date the clock earlier than was thought when the clock entered the BMA collection eighty years ago as one of the museum’s first significant examples of Americana.