Tall Case Clock

Gallery 103, American Art, first floor (Miller/Worley Gallery)

Main Building

Tall Case Clock

1801-1805

Movement made by Peter Hill (American, 1767–1820) Case possibly by George Deacon (American) Dial made by James Wilson (American, active c. 1820–1830)

African American craftsman Peter Hill was still enslaved when he served as an apprentice to clockmaker Joseph Hollingshead, Jr., in Burlington, New Jersey. Hill lived in the predominantly Quaker community of Burlington Township, where slaveholding was frowned upon, and he acquired his freedom in 1795. This painted dial by Hill (marked 101, indicating that he made at least that many) is as stylish as any produced in the larger urban centers along the eastern seaboard, while the case belies the clock's more rural manufacture.

Gallery 103, American Art, first floor (Miller/Worley Gallery)

Object Details

Titles:

Tall Case Clock

Date:

1801-1805

Artists:

Movement made by Peter Hill (American, 1767–1820) Case possibly by George Deacon (American) Dial made by James Wilson (American, active c. 1820–1830)

Medium:

Walnut, tulip poplar, white cedar, brass, iron, steel, glass

Dimensions:

8 feet 2 1/4 inches × 21 inches × 11 inches (249.6 × 53.3 × 27.9 cm)

Classification:

Furniture/Furnishings

Credit Line:

Purchased with the John T. Morris Fund, the Joseph E. Temple Fund, and with funds contributed by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth D. Hill, Willabell Clayton, Dr. Constance E. Clayton, and Dr. Benjamin F. Hammond, 2003

Accession Number:

2003-85-1

Geography:

Works made in Burlington, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America Dial made in Birmingham, England, Europe

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Gallery 103, American Art, first floor (Miller/Worley Gallery)

Main Building

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