AFA Summer 2019

Antiques & Fine Art 83 2019 and at the rear edge of the hood, and by the sloping sarcophagus top with ball-shaped finials and scrolled central plinth (Fig. 3). Head’s next most popular model, of which thirty-one were debited, was priced at £4. The entry for the earliest is particularly descriptive: “To a Clockcas Archit plat” [a clock case with an arched dial plate], sold to Richard Harrison (fl. 1721–1722), on September 16, 1721. The latest of the £4 clock cases was that debited to John Hood (1740–1749) on September 29, 1743. All thirty-one were thus probably for arch-dial clocks. Six at that price were described as arched, dating between 1721–1727, including a 1726 entry to Peter Stretch. These entries provide the earliest documented dates for American arch-dial clocks. According to English furniture historian Adam Bowett, 1721 would be an early reference for an arched-dial clock even in provincial England. 2 Not knowing of the Head account book and relying principally on probate records, pioneer Philadelphia furniture historian William Fig. 2: Tall-case square-dial clock, Philadelphia, 1722–1743. Black walnut with hard pine. H. 97⅝, D. 10½ in. Case attributed to the shop of John Head; eight-day movement by Peter Stretch. Private collection. Photography by Winterthur Museum, Library & Garden. Fig. 3: Detail of the rear and side of the hood of the clock case shown in figure 2.