The exhibit is fully installed and open to the public as of Sunday October 6th. Opening night was a huge success with enthusiastic response from all attendees. It looks fantastic and what an amazing group of clocks, they are each a masterpiece. The media exposure for the show has begun to roll out and I will post related stories to this article as the are published online. Thus far we have a piece on ArtFix Daily and a recorded tune from the Asa Munger tall clock at The Magazine Antiques site. Gary's and Kate's article has from The Magazine Antiques can now be downloaded here. The New York Times has featured a story about the exhibit in the Antiques column by Eve Kahn

  You can visit the Willard House and Clock Museum site for details and directions. 

Here is what appears in the September 2012 Maine Antique Digest.

Implementus Obsoleteus

Everyday life in the 18th and 19th century included the use of many utensils and implements which are now obsolete. Common objects that were necessities of life, particularly in the kitchen, are today almost completely unknown to all but the most serious historian.

Had you lived in that era, you may have regularly performed such tasks as filling your trencher from the firkin, winding the jack, or rolling a jagging wheel. You might have used the piggin to fill your noggin, or even your swigler.

As amusing as these terms seem today, they were no joke to our forefathers. So as you go about your daily routine, just be glad that you don’t have to adjust the trammel so you can clean the keeler.

Gary Sullivan has created this crossword puzzle of obsolete kitchen related implements (with some related words thrown in). Test your knowledge of these obscure historical objects. Good luck. You’ll need it!! The winner receives absolutely nothing…except the admiration of fellow historians, or perhaps a noggin of grog.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PUZZLE.
SEND US AN EMAIL IF YOU NEED THE SOLUTION.

We have just returned from our annual trip to New York for antiques week.  This year we had a booth at The Metro Show NYC, which is the show that replaced the TAAS show.  The new show was terrific, with a great attendance and a much more attractive presentation. Our booth was larger than prior years and yet on opening night there was barely room to stand.  Have a look at the images from that night.

The show was reviewed by Scudder Smith at the Antiques and The Arts Weekly, click here to read more.

As you may have seen in our blog, we bought a superb Newport demi-lune games table at CRN Auctions last month. It was made in Newport, RI., and has a wonderful cabriole front leg with carved ball & claw foot and carving on the knee. Well, the story has been picked up by Maine Antique Digest reporter David Hewett.  Follow the link to read more.

This is a fantastic story about an important piece of furniture that found it’s way to us. We purchased a high chest from a country auction house in Wyoming, that began it's life in Hingham, Massachusetts. The Main Antique Digest covered the story, follow the "Read More" link to learn the details, it is fascinating. It proves that great items are still available out there.

We were thrilled to purchase an exceptional clock at the March 6th Americana sale at Skinner Auctions. The circa 1822 dwarf clock, standing about four feet high is an exact miniature of a tall case (grandfather) clock. Early 19th century dwarf clocks from the Hingham/Hanover area, on the South Shore of Massachusetts, are highly prized by collectors. We purchased the clock for $189,600. on behalf of a private collector. Although not a record for a dwarf clock, this is one of the highest prices paid at public auction. Skinner's auction is reviewed at the Maine antique digest, click to read the article.

Two of the reasons why it sold for so much more than what dwarf clocks typically bring are the combination of remarkable condition and superb form. Dwarf clocks were produced with various case styles and some command higher prices than others. Most dwarf clocks with a high degree of originality sell in the $10,000. To $50,000. Price range, but great examples can easily go higher. This model, with works made by Joshua Wilder (1786-1860), incorporates a case which is attributed to Weymouth Cabinetmaker Abiel White (1766-1844). It has French feet, quarter columns in the case, and a removable hood just like a full size clock. The cases with all of these features are the most highly sought after of all the dwarf clocks. To learn more about Dwarf clocks be sure to read my article in Antiques & Fine Arts on the topic.  Click here to down load a copy of that article.

Here is the review of our booth at 2011 TAAS [The American Antique Show]  We had another great year with strong sales, good turn our and a great selection of important objects.  Sadly, this was the last year for this show.  We intend to be present at a show in New York in 2012 during antiques week, which is always the third week in January.  We will announce our plans so please look for postings here.

Steampunk. Never heard of it? Trust me. You'll encounter the term more often from now on. Briefly and somewhat simplistically, steampunkers play with the illusion that time periods can coexist. They imagine what things might have looked like if our technology had been available to the Victorians, and then they create those things. Those who make steampunk objects primarily modify Victorian antiques, but they also use antiques from other eras, recycled items, salvage, and plain old junk. And while often their creations qualify as art, they commonly also have a specific, practical purpose. There are rideable steampunk bicycles, playable steampunk guitars, steampunk clocks that tell time, and steampunk houses that people live in. Both an aesthetic and an interior-design solution, steampunk is also, for some, a philosophy of life.

We are delighted to announce that Harbor & Home: Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710–1850, co-authored by our own Gary Sullivan, Winterthur professor Brock Jobe and independent scholar Jack O’Brien, is the winner of the 16th annual Historic New England Book Prize.

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 has been documented in a book which Gary co-authored with Jack O’Brien and noted furniture scholar Brock Jobe. Working together with 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 is the first detailed catalog of the furniture making industry in this vital New England region. The project culminated in the 2009 release of a book entitled Harbor and Home; Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710-1850. It was released in conjunction with a traveling museum exhibition, which opened at Winterthur and then traveled 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 documents the work of these craftsmen, and whenever possible, identifies the clock case makers and allied artisans. Gary Sullivan’s goal in undertaking this study was to identify the usually anonymous clock case makers.

As research continues, 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) Some of the clockmakers and cabinetmakers that are being sought are Abiel White, a prolific cabinet maker from Weymouth, Massachusetts; Elisha Cushing and Elisha Cushing Jr, cabinetmakers from Hingham, Massachusetts; John Bailey, Calvin Bailey and John Bailey Jr. all clockmakers from Hanover, Massachusetts; Joshua Wilder and Reuben Tower, innovative clockmakers from Hingham, Massachusetts; Stephen Taber and Josiah Wood, clock makers from New Bedford; Josiah Gooding, a clockmaker from Dighton, MA. and Bristol, RI; Joseph Gooding and Alanson Gooding, clockmakers from Dighton, MA, Allen Kelley, a clockmaker who worked in various Cape Cod Towns; Ezra Kelley from Dartmouth and New Bedford, MA. and Samuel Rogers and David Studley, clock makers from Bridgewater and Hanover respectively. Pertinent contribution to this research are welcome.