Fine and Rare Federal Figured and Inlaid Mahogany Tall Case Clock, works by Aaron Willard, Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1800

dial inscribed AARON WILLARD, inside of the backboards twice inscribed in chalk Wm. Williams.

Israel Sack Inc., New York;
Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana from the Collection of Diane and Norman Bernstein, The Lindens, Washington, DC, January 22, 2006, sale N08160, lot 34.

Israel Sack, Inc. American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection. Volume VIII, P5682, p. 2209.

Older refinish, label on the case door is a REPRINTXXXX?, some replaced blocking to the feet, back foot supports have restoration, crack in the proper right cove molding, large pieced repair to the base (somewhat diamond shaped on the proper-right side), central finial is replaced, flanking finials appear period, fretwork crest is original and has only one stabilized crack (proper right side, near the plinth), dial paint has a flake at the signature.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Retaining its original fretwork and brass finials, this elegant tall case clock displays a dial inscribed "AARON WILLARD" and his label engraved by Paul Revere attached to the inside of the waist door.  It is of rare small size and features and eight-day movement housed in a case of figured mahogany ornamented with pierced fretwork, brass finials, ogee bracket feet and reeds of satinwood rather than brass in the quarter columns and colonnettes.

Aaron Willard (1757-1844) of Roxbury, Massachusetts and his brother Simon (1753-1848) were prolific and innovative clockmakers who dominated the clock making industry in the Boston-area during the first half of the nineteenth century.  Aaron worked in a separate location in Roxbury from his brother and relocated about 1792 across the Boston line, about a quarter mile away from Simon's shop.  He is listed in the 1798 Boston directory as a clock maker "on the Neck" and his large shop employed up to 30 people, while 21 other clockmakers, cabinetmakers, dial and ornamental painters and gilders worked within a quarter-mile radius by 1807.  His cases inspired by London clocks were standardized and made by local cabinetmakers such as Samuel (1769-1797) and William Fisk (1770-1844), with the latter documented as making the case for a clock Aaron Willard supplied to Edward Killeran of Cushing, Massachusetts in 1806.

A similar tall case clock by Aaron Willard also with a label engraved by Paul Revere on its waist door but with a movement made by Robert Roskell of Liverpool is in the collection of Old Sturbridge Village and illustrated in Philip Zea and Robert Cheney, Clock Making in New England, 1725-1825: An Interpretation of the Old Sturbridge Village Collection, 1992, fig. 2-22, p. 8.  Two other nearly identical Aaron Willard clocks in the Old Sturbridge Village Collection were made by a cabinetmaker working with the same fretwork templates (see Zea and Cheney as figs. 2-30 and 2-32 on pp. 41-2).