Incollect Magazine - Issue 2

Fig. 9: The “Seed of Life” consists of seven overlapping circles of the same size. The pinwheel design created in the center circle is a common decorative device. Using the same compass setting, an hourglass shape is produced by setting the compass point in the appropriate locations. Two more hourglass shapes are drawn and the design is rotated so that one of the hourglass shapes aligns with a diagonal of the square. to share findings and stories about people, place, and history that are revealed through research. For information about the Dietrich American Foundation, visit dietrichamericanfoundation.org . base panel, a line bisecting one of the hourglass shapes was aligned with a diagonal running from the top left corner to the lower right of the panel (Fig. 9). This slight rotation, changing the static vertical position to a more dynamic, tumbling alignment, creates the illusion that the design is in motion, mirroring the actual rotation of hands of the clock dial above. Christopher Storb is a furniture conservator, woodworking historian, and wood artist. Please send comments and related research to cstorb@gmail.com, or call 610.212.5528. This article is the eighth in a series featuring the Dietrich American Foundation’s collection, intended as a type of crowd sourcing exercise, where responses and information shared by readers can inform research. The Foundation’s mission is 1.  Stacy B. C. Wood Jr. and Stephen E. Kramer, Clockmakers of Lancaster County and Their Clocks, 1750–185 0 (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977), 22, 23. Apprentices often lived with their shop master and it was common practice for an apprentice to marry into a family, both in the colonies and abroad. The term “clockmaker” refers to someone who made the works and face/dial; the wooden case and hood would have been made by a cabinetmaker. 2.   https://www.incollect.com/articles/an-extraordinary-lega cy- john-j-snyder-jr-and-early-lancaster-county-decorative-arts 3.  The German features include lantern pinions, three turned brass pillars joining the brass plates of the movement, a fourth pillar behind the rear plate supporting the back-cock, and an open crutch. 4.  For more on this group of objects, see Lisa Minardi, “Sulfur Inlay in Pennsylvania German Furniture: New Discoveries,” in American Furniture, ed. Luke Beckerdite (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England for the Chipstone Foundation, 2015), 98-128. For the Rudy Stoner clock, see http://chipstone.dom5183.com/objects-1/info?query=Artist_ Maker%20%3D%20%22334%22&sort=0. Incollect Magazine 91 2022