Description:
Tall clock with case made by William Lloyd (1779-1845), 8-day brass movement with rack and small snail strike mechanism, separate second hand, and enameled sheet iron face. The bonnet is embellished with fretwork of unique, exuberant design. Lloyd cut both pieces at the same time with a drill and a coping saw. The rays of the patera--the oval sunburst motif--inlaid on the waist door and the lozenge decorating the skirt are tipped with small round insets filled with bitumen, a malleable black tar-based material used for finishing the surface. Alternating rays of light-colored wood and sumac (which was originally a vibrant light green color) are in laid in the patera at the center of the base, introducing a color that has faded to brown over time.

Label Text:
In his shop near the Springfield-West Springfield ferry, Lloyd made furniture in the Classical style, such as this tall case clock, for customers throughout western Massachusetts. Because tall clocks were expensive status symbols, they were a small—but important—part of his business. He probably maintained an inventory of no more than one or two at a time in his shop to raise his profile as a maker of luxury furniture. In 1806, he capitalized on the caché of his tall clocks in an advertisement in the Northampton weekly, the Republican Spy: “CABINET WORK, executed in the neastest manner. –Likewise—an Elegant Eight Day Clock & Case….”

Willing to experiment with furniture designs and methods, Lloyd built a reputation for innovative, and at the same time, cost-conscious, “cabinet work,” reflecting a desire to balance customers’ needs and tastes with their ability to pay. The bonnet is embellished with fretwork of unique, exuberant design. Lloyd, cut both pieces at the same time with a drill and coping saw. The rays of the patera—the oval sunburst motif—inlaid on the waist door and the lozenge decorating the skirt are tipped with small round insets filled with bitumen (a malleable black tar-based material). Alternating rays of whitewood and sumac (originally a vibrant light green hue) are inlaid in the patera at the center of the base, introducing a color note that has since faded to brown.


In his shop near the Springfield-West Springfield ferry, Lloyd made furniture in the fashionable Neoclassical style for customers throughout western Massachusetts. Because tall case clocks were expensive status symbols, they were a small, but important part of his business. He probably maintained an inventory of no more than one or two at a time in his shop to raise his profile as a maker of luxury furniture.

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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2015.17

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