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Photo: Courtesy Christie's, New York
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Tall case clock

Object number

RIF2109

Maker

Clockmaker Seril Dodge, American, 1759–1802
Casemaker Unknown

Dimensions

85 1/2 × 21 × 10 5/8 in. (217.17 × 53.34 × 26.988 cm) Width, dial: 12 in. (30.48 cm)

Date

1780–1800

Current location

Private Collection

Geography

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

Medium

Mahogany (primary); white pine and maple (secondary)

Marks

"S Dodge," engraved on dial

Inscriptions

"Tempus Edax Rerum," engraved on dial arch; "THE APPRECIATION OF A MINUTE IS ALL THE GOLDEN VALUE IN IT," engraved on chapter ring; "8 in," in graphite, on block behind upper waist door hinge

Provenance

Mrs. Barker, Bristol, Rhode Island; sold to Harry Arons (1891–1967), Ansonia and later Bridgeport, Connecticut; sold to Betty Barton Evans (1923–2013) and Thomas Mellon (1911–1997); consigned to Sotheby's, New York, June 19, 1998, lot 2022; sold to Leigh Keno American Antiques, New York. Christie's, New York, January 17–18, 2019, lot 1245

Associated names

Thomas Mellon Evans
Sotheby's
Mrs. Barker
Betty Barton Evans
Harry Arons
Leigh Keno American Antiques
Christie's New York

Bibliography

Wendy A. Cooper and Tara L. Gleason, "A Different Rhode Island Block-and-Shell Story: Providence Provenances and Pitch-Pediments," American Furniture (1999): 175, fig. 11.
Sotheby's, New York, Important American Furniture from the Collection of the Late Thomas Mellon and Betty Evans, sale cat. (June 19, 1998), 22–25, lot 2022, ill.
Frank L. Hohmann III et al., Timeless: Masterpiece American Brass Dial Clocks (New York: Hohmann Holdings, 2009), 290–291, no. 88, ill.
Patricia E. Kane et al., Art and Industry in Early America: Rhode Island Furniture, 1650–1830, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2016), 111n4, 112n37.
Christie's New York, New York, Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Silver and Prints, sale cat. (January 17–18, 2019), 148–51, lot 1245, ill.