Rare Chippendale Brass-Mounted Mahogany Double Case Shelf Clock, John Bailey, Hanover, Massachusetts, dated 1793

the dial inscribed John Bailey, Hanover and signed on back of dial J. Minot 93; panel on lower case door is replaced. 

Sotheby's, New York, Important American Furniture from the Collection of the Late Thomas Mellon and Betty Evans, June 19, 1998, sale 7164, lot 2102;
Kenneth E. Tuttle Antiques, Gardiner, Maine.

Panel on door replaced (per Kenneth Tuttle receipt).
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.

This venerable shelf clock, inscribed on the dial John Bailey / HANOVER, was manufactured by the prominent Hanover, Massachusetts clockmaker John Bailey, Sr. (1730-1810).  John Sr., a Quaker, was established as a clockmaker in Hanover between 1750 and 1790.  He trained his three sons, John Jr. (1751-1823), Calvin (1761-1835), and Lebbeus (1763-1827), in the clockmaking business. 

The majority of the clocks manufactured by the Bailey family are eight-day clocks with brass or enameled dials.  Some extant examples have unusual skeletonized movement plates and gearing arrangements.  Other examples with brass dials inscribed John Bailey, Hanover have thirty-hour wood movements that closely relate to movements made by the Cheney family of East Hartford, Connecticut.  The Bailey family of clockmakers may also have been the first manufacturers of the dwarf tall-case clock. 

The dial of this shelf clock, signed on the back J. MINOT 93, by J. Minot, a clock dial painter working in Boston circa 1790 to 1820. The case features a distinctive scalloped crest and a cyma-shaped mid-molding more regularly seen on clocks manufactured in Norwich, Connecticut by the clockmaker Thomas Harland.  Among those cabinetmakers known to have provided cases for Bailey's clocks between 1784 and 1814 are Abial White, Ellis Dammon, Abner Hersey and Theodore Cushing.  Other clocks that feature a similar crest and mid-molding include: a tall-case clock in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see Hecksher, Morrison H., American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, no. 194); a tall-case clock in the collection of the U.S. Department of State (see Conger, Clement, Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State, New York, 1991, no. 95); and a tall-case clock in the collection of the Society of the Founders of Norwich, Connecticut (see The Society of the Founders of Norwich, Craftsmen & Artists of Norwich, Stonington, Connecticut, 1965, p. 26).