Rare Tiger Maple Tall Case Clock with Elaborately Engraved Brass Dial

Rare Tiger Maple Tall Case Clock with Elaborately Engraved Brass Dial, Reuben Ingraham and John Avery, Plainfield, Connecticut, c. 1790, the arched hood with glazed tombstone door opening to a finely engraved dial lettered "Reuben Ingraham/PLAINFIELD" in the arch above roman and arabic numerals centering a seconds hand signed John Avery and calendar aperture, and engraved verse relating the ideal steadiness of time to the unpredictability of the human condition, the spandrels engraved with figural scenes lettered "SPRING," "SUMMER," "AUTUMN," and "WINTER," all bordered by rococo detail, on a waist with narrow molded tombstone door, and stepped heavily molded base, ht. 87 in.

Literature: Clockmakers and Craftsmen of the Avery Family in Connecticut, Amos G. Avery, The Connecticut Historical Society, 1987, pp. 149-55; American Rococo, 1750-1775: Elegance in Ornamentation, exhibition and catalog, Metropolitan Museum of Art, January-May, 1992, Harry Abrams Inc., p. 69; Timeless Masterpiece American Brass Dial Clocks, (Hohmann Holdings LLC, New York, 2009), pp. 114-15.
The property of Brian and Pam Ehrlich