Description:
Tall clock in pine composed of a large hood with columns and a pagoda pediment, over a fixed, arched, glazed door flanked by columns. The dial has applied spandrels at the corners and Roman numerals on the silvered chapter ring surrounding a field fitted with a circular silvered name boss incorporating a calendar wheel and seconds dial: "B. Cheney/HARTFORD." is engraved on the name boss. There a painted ship on an applied plaque sailing toward a lighthouse. The waist is fashioned with chamfered corners and fluted pilasters over a flat, molded base on four small turned feet (not original). This clock is an important illustration of the merger of marketing and technology in the Connecticut Valley. Benjamin Cheney, Jr. (1725-1815) made several similar tall clocks with large, 30-hour, wooden movements beginning in the 1750s to expand his clientele since wooden works cost far less than the standard 8-day brass movements that he also made. His brother, Timothy (1731-1795) also of East Hartford, also worked in brass and wooden clockmaking. Written in ink on a label pasted inside the waist door: "Early 30 hour Wood Movt. TALL CLOCK made by Benj. Cheney of Hartford Conn. (1725-1815). Had his own shop by 1749--apprenticed to Seth Youngs, a[t] Hartford ca. 1739 Cheney liked to work in wood and is perhaps 1st American clockmaker to use much wood in clocks--(rare & valuable)."

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+92.001

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.