Exceptional Baltimore Federal Bracket Clock by a Female Maker

circa 1796-1815, thought to be the earliest American clock by a female maker, the silvered dial signed "Anna Atkinson, Baltimore", arched mahogany case with reeded molding typical of the Baltimore style, glazed sides set with pierced brass appliques, brass works with engraved backplate, brass carrying handle and ball feet, poplar secondary wood, 17-1/4 x 10-1/4 x 6-1/2 in.

Provenance: A New Jersey Collection; G.K.S. Bush Antiques; Millie McGehee; Private Collection purchased 1997 (accompanied by copy of write up)

Note: This remarkable clock represents one of the earliest examples of a signed object by a female craftsman in Federal America. Anna Maria Leroy Atkinson (d.1823) is recorded as a clockmaker in Baltimore from 1796-1817, both in directories of that city and in newspapers. James W. Gibbs, Dixie Clockmakers records that she was born to Abraham Leroy, a Swiss watch and clock maker living in Lancaster Pennsylvania, and that she learned her trade from him. He tended the courthouse clock in Lancaster from 1757-1765, and she built a tall case clock in that city but put her husband's name on the dial. She was left in charge of her father's Lancaster shop while he was traveling in 1750. She married Wilmer Atkinson of Baltimore, and Matthew and William, clockmakers of that city, were presumably her sons. Diston and Bishop in The American Clock p. 284 and Brooks Palmer, The Book of American Clocks, p. 139, list other biographical notes.

This clock, as well as the maker, are recorded in the MESDA object and craftsman files. See photo NN-1029.

While the majority of early bracket clocks that bear the names of American makers are actually imported clocks that were retailed by those makers, notes on the invoice from Millie McGehee indicate that both the works and case of this clock are of American manufacture.