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Current Scholarship |
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Mr. Sullivan is now gathering information for his latest scholarly topic, American Musical Clocks. This project will document and illustrate all known examples of these rare and important clocks. Gary will collaborate with accomplished music historian Kate Van Winkle Keller, to produce a comprehensive full color text demonstrating the significance of these extraordinary clocks.
At present information
relating to, and examples of these rare clocks are being sought for inclusion in this important text. A number of clocks have already been documented and are included in the pamphlet previously published by Kate Van Winkle Keller in 1985. This pamphlet is linked below and can be viewed as a PDF. Pertinent contributions to
this research are welcome. Please contact us either by email or via telephone, both can be found a the bottom of this page. Musical Clocks of America and Their Music |
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As a recognized clock expert, Gary Sullivan has for many years been involved in gathering information on the early clock making industry in Southeastern Massachusetts. The product of this research will be documented in a book which Gary is co-authoring with noted furniture scholar Brock Jobe. Working together with furniture scholars and the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, they have been studying the furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts from the William and Mary period through the Classical and Empire periods (circa 1710-1850).
The result of the study will be the first detailed catalog of the furniture making industry in this vital New England region. The project will culminate in the March 2009 release of a book entitled "Harbor and Home; Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710-1850". It will be released in conjunction with a traveling museum exhibition, which will open at Winterthur on March 21, 2009 and run until May 25, 2009 and then travel to the Nantucket Historical Association for the summer season. Clock making was a significant industry in Southeastern Massachusetts, particularly during the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century. A portion of the volume will document the work of these craftsmen, and whenever possible, will identify the clock case makers and allied artisans. We are interested in learning about and documenting any pre-1850 furniture or clocks which can be firmly tied to this region. (The study includes the counties of Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket)Those clockmakers and cabinetmakers that are being sought are John Bailey, Calvin Bailey and John Bailey Jr. from Hanover; Joshua Wilder and Reuben Tower from Hingham; Stephen Taber and Josiah Wood from New Bedford; as well as Joseph Gooding, Alanson Gooding, Allen Kelley, Ezra Kelley, Samuel Rogers and David Studley. Pertinent contribution to this research are welcome. |
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This Classically rendered watercolor memorial illustrates the family of celebrated clock maker Simon Willard of Roxbury, Massachusetts. Perhaps the best known of all American clock makers, Simon Willard was an innovator who changed the course of clock making with a number of major improvements such as the patent timepiece commonly referred to as the "Banjo Clock". The memorial illustrates the names and birth dates of Simon, his wife Mary and their eleven children. Included are two memorials to daughter Julia in 1799 and eldest son Thomas in 1810. Therefore the record would a have been created after 1810 but prior to 1823, the year that his wife Mary died. Although official records of Willard family genealogy are known, it is extraordinary to have discovered the personal record owned by the Willard household. |
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| The Simon Willard Lighthouse Clock Project 
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Mr.
Sullivan is assisting independent scholar Mr. Paul J. Foley in his latest
undertaking, to publish a history, catalog and guide of Simon Willard's
lighthouse clocks. In conjunction with The Willard House and Clock Museum
in North Grafton, Massachusetts, Gary is helping to locate privately
held lighthouse clocks made by Simon Willard. In 2002, Mr. Foley published
a very highly regarded, comprehensive guide to Simon Willard's patent
time pieces. Information
relating to, and examples of these clocks are being sought for an upcoming
publication devoted to this important form. In addition to those clocks
which were included in the museum's recent exhibition of Willard lighthouse
clocks, the author wishes to include all known examples of these masterpieces. |
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