Longcase clock

DateCirca 1738

MediumA longcase clock with jappaned surface decoration and a brass dial

Dimensions102 1/4 in. (259.7 cm)

Donor credit lineGift of Mr. Francis C. Gray, Jr., Mr. John B. Gray, and Mr. Morris Gray

Object number1980.6

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionThis longcase clock is comprised of a cabinet case made and japanned in Boston, MA, with works created by Marmaduke Storr, a London, England clockmaker. The maker's plate, inscribed "Marmd. Storr foot of London Bridge" is located inside the case door. Marmaduke Storr is listed in "Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World" as an eminent maker at Lombard St. in London, active 1724-1775.

The tall case is surmounted by a hood with an arched top to the door, and, above, a stepped, domed cresting, topped with three brass ball-and-shaft finials. The hood has openwork fret spandrels, and the pillars flanking the door with brass bases and capitals. The dial case is marked with Roman numerals, and features a dial to record seconds and days of the month in Arabic numerals. In the arched top of the dial case, another dial controls the strike. The spandrels are decorated with birds, urns, flowers, and scrolls. On either side of the strike regulator in the arched top are dolphins and scrolls. The case below has an arched door decorated with a large-scale landscape showing seated figures in the Chinese style surrounded by a half-round ropework molding. The sides are decorated with devices of flowers and foliage. The central case sits on a raised ogee base.

The entire casework is ornamented all over with elaborate japanned decoration, a technique meant to simulate oriental lacquer that was in fashion from about 1710-1750 in colonial Boston. Asian goods, more commonly known as East India goods, found their way to the ports of early America. As newspapers appeared in major cities in the 1720s and 1730s, advertisements increasingly reflected the availability of Indian calico, various kinds of teas, Chinese porcelain, and other luxury items “Just imported from London,” as was often noted in bold letters. One of the most striking examples of the influence of this global commerce was the production of japanned furniture during the early 1700s. A lacquered and gilded finish could take months to complete, making these items rare in the places where they were made—Japan, China, India, and Southeast Asia. To add to the allure, the lacquer was derived only from the Japanese varnish tree (Rhus verniciflua), which grows only in Asia. To satisfy Western demand for the glowing objects that usually featured Chinese motifs of flowers, figures, or landscapes on a highly polished background of ebony or scarlet, the English developed a technique using repeated layers of varnish that approximated the Asian finish and called it japanning. As the center for American furniture manufacture until 1750, Boston had as many as a dozen japanners at work during the first half of the century.

Japanning involves applying layers of varnish, often with added pigments and decorative elements, to create a glossy, ornate finish. Japanned furniture from Boston, with its whimsically decorated surfaces depicting visions of faraway worlds and exotic beasts, has long captured the imagination. A few examples bear the signature of the highly skilled decorators known as “japanners,” but most were decorated anonymously. A combination of “raised work” and “flat work” decoration, often copied directly from the techniques of Japanese and Chinese lacquerwork, formed the designs. The technique of raised work allowed certain parts of the decoration to stand out in relief by applying a thickened gesso material that was then gilded. Gilded decoration applied directly to the colored ground surface was known as flat work. Both raised work and flat work were further enhanced with fine black lines referred to in the period as “penwork.” The designs, which often imitated the imagery found on Chinese screens, ceramics, and lacquerware, included human figures, animals, birds, buildings, boats, trees, bridges, and bouquets of flowers.

The provenance of this longcase clock tracks through some of the most powerful families in Massachusetts in the colonial and early republican periods. Originally owned by Thomas Hancock (1703-1764), an American merchant, one of the wealthiest businessmen in colonial Massachusetts, and a politician, the clock descended to his nephew and ward, the statesman John Hancock, who was -- among other accolades -- the longest-serving president of the Continental Congress and first and third governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. After Hancock's death in 1793, his widow Dorothy Quincy sold the clock to Elizabeth Chipman Gray, wife of William Rufus Gray (1750–1825). Gray was a Massachusetts merchant and politician from a working class family in Lynn, MA, who built a business and rose through the state's political ranks, becoming the richest man in New England. Prior to the War of 1812, he owned Gray's Wharf in Charlestown, MA and had the largest private fleet in the United States with 60 square-rigged vessels. He was a state senator, before becoming the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1810 to 1812. He married Elizabeth Chipman (1756-1823) in 1782. Elizabeth was a pioneer in philanthropy, volunteering a significant portion of her time to helping the poorest citizens of Boston. The couple "lived on Summer Street, in the mansion previously occupied by Governor Sullivan" in Boston, MA, where this longcase clock was no doubt prominently displayed.
ProvenancePurchased new by Thomas Hancock, ca. 1738; descended at his death in 1794 to Mr. and Mrs. John Hancock (the first Governor of Massachusetts); purchased from Mrs. John Hancock by Mrs. Elizabeth Chipman Gray (wife of Hon. William Gray; daughter of Hon. John Chipman and Elizabeth Brown) in 1794; descended to daughter Lucia Gray Swett; descended to daughter Lucia Gray Swett Alexander (wife of Francis Alexander); descended to [unnamed] Swett sisters (daughters of Samuel Bourne Swett, 1810-1890); purchased from Swett sisters by Francis Calley Gray ca. 1935; at his death in 1976, descended to his son, Francis C. Gray, Jr.; donated to ODHS by Francis C. Gray, Jr., John B. Gray, and Morris Gray, 1980.

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