Benjamin Clark Gilman of Exeter, New Hampshire. This birch case tall clock is a country form. 219095.
Inside this case is a handwritten label. This label reads, “Birch Tall Clock 7’ 4” / by / Benjamin Clark Gilman / Exeter, N.H. / c. 1800 / Purchased by William W Keller / Laconia, N.H. From / Edwin B. Burt, Exeter, / N.H. / November 1965 / $750 – clock- / Refinished + restorei?ose $90. / by Bird + Elliot. Tilton, N.H.”
Although this dial is not currently signed, it may have been at one time. We have owned several tall clocks made by Gilman that were signed below the calendar aperture with his initials, “B.C.G.,” One or two of which were now faintly signed. The paint used had been worn away, leaving a ghost signature. This example has several reoccurring construction characteristics that help suggest Gilman as the Maker. The shape of the bracket feet, the general case form, and the shape of the hands have been seen on other signed examples. Was this dial signed in 1965? Or did Mr. Burt associate this example with the Maker based on the construction?
This example features a case constructed primarily in birch and features New England white pine secondary woods, including the backboard. The birch wood features a lighter finish that is best described as having a warm tone or coloring. This case stands on applied bracket feet, which elevate the clock off the floor. This bracket design features a distinctive and interesting pattern. It is more complex than the patterns used in regions like Concord. The waist door is rectangular and trimmed with a simple molded edge. This door fills the waist section of the case. Open it, and one can easily access the weights and brass-faced pendulum bob. A nice construction feature is the four exposed pins that secure the door’s fame. The bonnet is a swan’s neck form. This pattern was trendy and is commonly found in several other New Hampshire area cases. The moldings are well formed and terminate in carved pinwheels of an unusual design. This example also includes three plinths. The two located on the outside corners are needed. The central plinth is part of the hood structure and is well-formed. Each of these supports a cast brass period finial. The bonnet columns are simply turned and mounted in brass capitals. These visually support the section of the hood. The large sidelights are a tombstone form and are fitted with glass panels. The bonnet door is also arched and fitted with glass. It opens to access the painted iron dial.
This painted iron dial is of English manufacture. It was made by the Osbourne Manufactory in Birmingham, England. The spandrels are decorated with traditional floral patterns. Depicted in the lunette is a pastoral scene. Here, a small thatched-roof cottage is set on the hillside. A fire in the fireplace is a welcoming thought. A man stands beside a small pond in the foreground. The time track displays the hours and minutes in a traditional format. A subsidiary seconds dial and calendar window are also present. The steel hands are wonderfully formed.
This fine movement is constructed in brass and is of good quality. Four turned brass pillars support the two brass plates. Hardened steel shafts support the polished steel pinions and brass gearing. The winding drums are grooved to accept and guide the weight cords. Each holds approximately eight days of winding cord. The escapement is a recoil format. The weight-driven movement is designed to run for eight days on a full wind. It is a two-train or a time-and-strike design, having a rack and snail striking system. As a result, it will strike each hour on the hour. This is done on a cast iron bell mounted above the movement on a bell stand.
This case measures approximately 7 feet 4 inches tall to the top of the center finial. It was made circa 1800.
Inventory number SS-9.
Benjamin Clark Gilman was born on July 8, 1763, and died on October 13, 1835. He was the youngest of eleven children born to Major John and Jane Deane Gilman. In 1788, he married his cousin Mary Thing, and together they had eight children. Gilman distinguished himself not only as a dedicated family man and civic leader—serving as a selectman for Exeter for eight years—but also as a man of remarkable genius and versatility. Frank O. Spinney, in the September 1943 issue of Antiques Magazine, aptly described Gilman as "An Ingenious Yankee Craftsman." Spinney highlighted Gilman’s extraordinary range of talents, noting that he was a "silversmith, engraver, watch and clockmaker, builder, hydraulic engineer, merchant, landlord, and instrument maker."
Gilman’s genius was evident in both his craftsmanship and his inventive spirit. In the April 8, 1791, edition of the New Hampshire Gazetteer, he advertised, "That he carries on clockmaking at his shop in Exeter. As he has done something in the Business for several years past, he now flatters himself of having a thorough knowledge of it - and while he is endeavoring to promote so useful an Art, he requests the particular encouragement of his Friends and Customers." As a hydraulic engineer, Gilman pushed the boundaries of his era’s technology, constructing several aqueducts by boring holes through the centers of logs and joining them together to move water over great distances. His engineering prowess led him to projects as distant as New London, Connecticut, and the bustling coastal cities of Salem and Boston, Massachusetts, as well as Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Notably, he built a lighthouse at the entrance of Portsmouth Harbor in 1803, further demonstrating his inventive intellect and commitment to public service.
Over the years in the business of buying and selling clocks, we have owned over a dozen tall case clocks made by this maker. The vast majority of them have had painted dials that were signed with his initials just under the calendar. An engraved brass dial clock has also been recorded. In addition to tall clocks, a Massachusetts shelf clock is pictured in Albert Sack's Fine Points of Furniture. Another shelf clock is pictured in Parsons, New Hampshire Clocks and Clockmakers. The Currier Museum of Art collection in Manchester, New Hampshire, reportedly owns several silver spoons by Gilman and an engraved watch paper. Several instruments, which include a carriage pedometer, a nocturnal, and an engraved copper plate used to print dials for a surveyor's or mariner's compass, have been recorded.
