Clock, Tall Case

Object Name:

Clock, Tall Case

Object ID:

2020.001

Creator:

Blasdel, Jonathan (1709-1782) -- Clockmaker

Place of Origin:

Kingston, NH

Date:

1749

Description:

Tall case clock, attributed to Jonathan Blasdel (1709-1782), Kingston, NH, 1749. Brass face with pewter dial. Circular pewter nameplate above dial, engraved "MDCCXLIX / JAMES SANBUN / OF KINSTOUN" (i.e., James Sanborn of Kingston, NH). Iron movement.

A. Case, 82.2" high x 17.8" wide x 9" deep
B. Hood, 21" high x 22" wide x 10.7" deep
C. Movement
D. Pendulum, 46.7" long x 3.75" diam.
E. Weight, lead cylinder 5" high x 2.75" diam.; 6.6" high with hook

Material:

Wood
Pine
Metal
Brass
Iron
Glass

Dimensions:

H-83 W-22 D-10.7 inches

Provenance:

One of the two earliest dated New Hampshire tall clocks presently known, both dated 1749. Of the type usually attributed to the Blasdel (Blaisdell) family, members of which, for at least three generations, are noted for making clocks with brass and iron movements, at first in Amesbury, MA, and later in various New Hampshire towns. It is not known if the clock was made for James Sanborn, or if he was the maker, perhaps an apprentice of Jonathan Blasdel (1709-1782). No James Sanborn from this vicinity is yet known to have been a clockmaker. Only two clocks bearing Jonathan Blasdel's name are currently known; one is dated 1768, and the other has a history of being made in 1733 and taken in 1776 to Hopkinton, NH, by Benjamin B. Darling, who, significantly, was a native of East Kingston.

The clock descended in the family of the donor, although not directly. The Stearns family, who lived for generations in Goffstown and later in Manchester, is directly descended from the Blasdel family of Amesbury, and donor's ancestors were cousins of the three generations of Blasdel clockmakers. This appears to be just a coincidence, however, as the clock was more likely to have descended in a Sanborn line.

Credit Line:

Gift of Jonathan D. Stearns

Subjects:

Tall clocks