Hi everyone. I bought this clock a couple of months ago. The dial and movement have the date of 1810 written on both of them. The case looked unusually simple to me and I saw some similar cases on the Internet that were Shaker clocks. Any thoughts? Thank you as always.
I couldn't see the date 1810 on the dial, but it didn't enlarge much, so I may have missed it. I would be interested to see the movement which you mentioned also had the date. If Riley Whiting of Winchester, Connecticut is the maker, there is plenty of information on him on this site which you can find using the search icon (the little magnifying glass symbol). JTD
Thank you for your reply JTD. I'm sorry the dates are on the back here's some pictures. Thank you I did some research on Whiting. I'm surprised at the 1810 date on my clock I thought it would be a few years later. It runs great but doesn't bong. The little gear broke into a million pieces one day out of nowhere I guess Mr. Whiting didn't make it to last 210 years! I have a replacement for the gear which I'll install tonight. Thanks!
The 1810 date may well be a later addition to the seat board. Whiting was first listed as starting in business in 1811 and the movement and dial pictured appears of a later manufacture, not of his earlier work. The case is not of Shaker origin, their craftsmanship was always first-rate, often used dovetails in their work, and they were known to use hardwoods, not pine, in their construction projects. "Riley Whiting in Winchester, Lamson & Sperry, Lamson, Sperry & Co., and later Mark Leavenworth & Co., all of Waterbury, Connecticut, produced thousands of these thirty-hour, wooden tall clock movements from 1811-1816."
Ditto on all counts. I would interject that the inscription really doesn't look like it was executed in a typical 19th century manner which tends to be somewhat more florid. Look around the MB for 19th century inscriptions on the back of dials and elsewhere left by repairpersons, previous owners and so on and you'll see what I mean. RM
I wonder if that's a US made dial as if it was English it would make you think it wasn't later than around 1810. I also wonder how many people if they buy a Shaker style kitchen known of the origin of the term.
The dial is very definitely American, it is wood. Here are some examples from the same time period and the same general location (Bristol Conn and immediate vicinity) There is only one of these marked Riley Whiting, it is 2nd from the left, lying flat on the table. These are all wood works dials and all of them date about 1815-1825. And I suspect the term Shaker does not mean very much to anybody save a few collectors of their products. A study of their work and philosophy is most interesting to me. As a result of their work in a very few clocks, I ended up studying them more than a bit. We also lived fairly close to Canterbury NH for some time. The last living Shaker was still there back when we visited, Bertha Lindsay, she was the last Shaker, she died on 3 October 1990.
My great grandfather was a shaker cabinet maker. His cabinet shop is at the shaker museum at New Lebanon. As such, I have had a lot of exposure and interest in shaker work. I can with certainty that this is not shaker. As stated, construction and wood are not what you would see with there work. I know of only a handful of clocks made by shakers. My grandfather had a wall clock up until 1993. Absolutely beautiful yet so simple. He was afraid it would get stolen as people came from all over to see it. No one in the family could afford it so he sold it to a very well know actor who collected shaker. My Holy Grail in clock collecting is to find and reclaim it.
