Lot 65 email save

Rare African-American Federal clock,

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Rare African-American Federal clock, tall case, arched and painted dial with engraved brass medallion "Peter Hill, Burlington" (African-American clock maker Peter Hill, working in Burlington, New Jersey, circa 1795), in red grain-painted pine case, with period weights, pendulum and winder present, 87-1/2 x 19 x 10-1/4 in. Old dry painted surface, saddle board a good match, dial lightly cleaned, consistent crackle throughout with scattered minor retouch. Watch and clock maker Peter Hill (1767-1820) was a Quaker and is buried in the Burlington Friends Meeting House cemetery. Hill is one of only a few African-American clock makers active in the early 19th century. As a slave he learned clock making from his owner, Joseph Hollinshead, Jr. After gaining his freedom in 1795, he set up his own shop on High Street. Only three other examples of his tall case clocks are known: one circa 1803 at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington; another in the West Town School at West Town, Pennsylvania; a third at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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