Banjo clock

Details

Descriptive Terms

banjo clocks
timepieces
mahogany (wood)
verre églomisé
gilding
Federal
Clock, Wall

Label

The Simon Willard banjo clock, which hangs in the library at the Phillips House in Salem, Massachusetts, is unique not only for its design and creation by the famed clock wright, but also because of its long history of ownership by the Phillips family. Stephen Willard Phillips chronicled the clock's history with a series of note cards, nestled in the regulator case.

Inscription

S; Williard's Patent (Verre eglomise paint on glass front)
This clock made by / Simon Willard very early / in nineteenth century / was bought by Capt Stephen / Phillips when he was / furnishing his new house / 17 Chestnut St, in 1805 / and hung in his dining / room where it remained / for over a century / till / the death of his grand / daughter Jane Peele Phillips / when it came to me and / I took it to my house / today. Jan. 31 1911. / Stephen Willard Phillips. (Handwritten note on the back of a calling card.)
Clock put in order by / Bowd & Co of Boston Oct. 1912 / and moved to new house / 34 Chestnut St and / hung in my library. / Stephen W. Phillips. / Nov. 1912. / Taken down during the Great Salem Fire. June 1914. / to be ready to rescue. / Cleaned by Bowd of Boston / May 1, 1918. / Oiled + fixed by Mastron Salem / June 1932 (Handwritten note on the back of a ticket.)

Associated Building

Original to Phillips House (Salem, Mass.),

Additional Identification Number

FD222

Maker

Willard, Simon, 1753-1848 (Clockmaker)

Location of Origin

Roxbury, Massachusetts, United States, New England

Dimensions

33 3/4 x 9 3/4 x 3 3/8 (HxWxD) (inches)

Credit Line

Gift of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Charitable Trust for Historic Preservation

Accession Number

2006.44.737

Places

Massachusetts (United States)
Roxbury (Boston, Suffolk county, Massachusetts) [neighborhood]