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Tall case clock

Object number

RIF1555

Maker

Casemaker Unknown
Clockmaker Caleb Wheaton, American, 1757?1827
Clockmaker James Wilson, British, active 1777, died 1809

Dimensions

98 1/2 × 18 × 9 in. (250.191 × 45.72 × 22.86 cm)

Date

1790–1810

Current location

Private collection

Geography

Made in Providence, Rhode Island
(view a map of Rhode Island)

Medium

Mahogany (primary, includind dial mat); pine (case back, blocks in waist, top and back of hood); maple (base of hood)

Marks

"Caleb Wheaton / Providence," engraved on pendulum bob; "WILSON," stamped, on dial plate

Style

Hepplewhite, Federal

Provenance

Peleg Arnold (1751–1820), Smithfield, Rhode Island; by descent to his nephew Thomas F. Buffum (1776–1852), Smithfield, Rhode Island; by descent to his son David Buffum (1811–1899), Smithfield, Rhode Island; by descent in his family; sold to Israel Sack, Inc., New York, 1964–1969; sold to E. Martin Wunsch (1924–2013), New York; by descent in his family; consigned to Christie's, New York, January 24, 2020, lot 365

Associated names

Peleg Arnold
Thomas F. Buffum
David Buffum
Israel Sack, Inc.
E. Martin Wunsch
Christie's

Bibliography

American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Highland House Publishers, 1957–1989), vol. 2, p. 454, 1129, ill.
"Israel Sack, Inc., advertisement," Antiques 85, no. 1 (January 1964): ill. inside front cover.
Christie's, New York, Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Silver, sale cat. (January 24, 2020), 136, lot 365, ill.