As well, the show offers insights on the network of sub-contracted specialist case makers, brass founders and glaziers that the Claggett workshop relied on to produce their clocks. 1797), and William’s son-in-law James Wady ( ca. The exhibition charts a complex narrative that teases out the three distinct personalities that comprise the Claggett dynasty-William Claggett (1694–1748), his assumed relative Thomas Claggett ( d. The clocks’ increasing technical and decorative elaboration over the course of the eighteenth century coincided with the growing prosperity of Newport’s merchant class, whose patronage fueled the city’s emergence as a major colonial artistic center. Organized by the Redwood Library & Athenæum-the sole venue- The Claggetts of Newport: Master Clockmakers in Colonial America juxtaposes significant early square dial clocks with later, highly elaborate clocks featuring japanned cases and complex movements indicating the day, tides, and phases of the moon. With the recent book devoted to the Claggetts by Fennimore and Hohmann, the Claggetts’ achievement as a highpoint of early American craftsmanship can now be comprehensively appreciated,” said exhibition co-curator Gary Sullivan, the leading authority on early American clocks. “This is an unprecedented presentation of clocks that is unlikely ever to be duplicated. Preserved by Rhode Island families, some for 300 years, the identities of the original owners of several examples are documented and early family histories are known for others, shedding light on the value, details of construction and the circumstances governing commissions. The exhibition includes many clocks borrowed from private collections that feature significant provenance information. Among other highlights is a table clock with japanned surface by William Claggett a trio of Thomas Claggett clocks in related, uniquely regional cases, one a dwarf clock and another a musical clock by him and two uncased eight-day time and strike movements enabling visitors to peer into the mechanics of a working clock. Thomas Claggett is represented by eleven clocks, while James Wady-to whom only eleven clocks are ascribed-by four clocks, including one using a convex block-and-shell pendulum door, a feature that typified Newport clocks. It features twenty clocks by William Claggett, including his masterpiece: the arch-dial, eight-day quarter-striking clock in japanned case belonging to the Redwood. “As the pinnacle of what was often the most expensive item in an elite colonial home, these clocks reflect the cultural aspirations of early Americans, and the role that Newporters played in fashioning an American style that contrasted with European fashions,” said Redwood Executive Director and exhibition co-curator Benedict Leca.ĭrawn from a full roster of public and private collections, the exhibition includes pieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brown University, The Preservation Society of Newport County, Old Sturbridge Village Collection, and the Rhode Island Historical Society. It examines the range of the Claggetts’ clock production in terms of their technical sophistication, decorative finesse, and context of fabrication. The Claggetts of Newport: Master Clockmakers in Colonial America features 35 clocks, the largest assemblage of Claggett and Wady clocks ever brought together-many never exhibited publicly. In an era when it emerged alongside New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston as one of the five main port cities of the American Enlightenment, Newport famously distinguished itself by its uniquely progressive society, but also by its cultural refinement, exemplified as much by the Redwood Library-America’s first purpose-built library and earliest public neoclassic building-as by the masterpiece clocks produced by the Claggett dynasty. The Redwood Library and Athenæum, Newport, 13 December 2018 - 21 April 2019Ĭurated by Gary Sullivan and Benedict Leca The Claggetts of Newport: Master Clockmakers in Colonial America Press release (via Art Daily ) for the exhibition: Installation view of The Claggetts of Newport: Master Clockmakers in Colonial America (Newport: Redwood Library & Athenaeum, photo by Michael Osean).
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