Daniel Burnap of East Windsor, Connecticut. An important tall case clock. 27216.
This is an important cherry case tall clock made by Daniel Burnap of East Windsor, Connecticut. This unusual cherry case retains an older finish. The form is closely related to a group of cases that are thought to have been made by Timothy and Samuel Loomis. Both cabinetmakers worked in Windsor. This case has more of a furniture appeal due to the bold shaping of the moldings and other decorative elements. This case stands on an applied bracket base molding which rests flat on the floor. This molding is applied directly to the base panel and is reminiscent of an early pre-Revolutionary form. The waist section is quite long and features a tombstone-shaped door. This door is narrow and was never fitted with a lock. The front corners of the waist are inset spiral-turned columns that are reminiscent of strands of rope. They are fully formed and slightly trimmed to fit into the sides of the case. These areas feature a cock-beaded housing or framing. This design is thought to be unique to this region. The bonnet is a swan’s neck pediment form. The nicely formed moldings terminate in spiral-carved rosettes. Four fluted bonnet columns visually support the arch. Two flank the bonnet door, which is an arched form and fitted with glass. Three turned wooden finials surmount this case.
Daniel Burnap’s dials are of unusually fine artistry. He was a skillful engraver and was responsible for teaching others the trade. This is an excellent representation of his work. This sheet brass dial retains an old silver wash. The time ring is formatted with Roman-style numeral hour figures and Arabic-style five-minute markers. A subsidiary seconds dial is inset and positioned below the hour numeral twelve. The date of the month aperture is of the traditional form. It is positioned above the numeral six. This dial is signed by the Makers in the arch. It reads, “ Dan’ll Burnap / East Windsor.” The movement is brass and designed to run eight-day on a full wind. It features traditionally shaped pillars or posts that are associated with this clockmaker. This clock is designed to strike the hour on a cast iron bell. It is of excellent quality.
This clock was made circa 1785 and stands 7 feet 4 inches tall to the top of the center finial.
Inventory number 27216.
Daniel Burnap. Clockmaker, silversmith, engraver, and instrumentmaker of East Windsor, Andover, and Coventry, Connecticut.
Daniel Burnap was born in Coventry (now Andover), Connecticut, on November 1, 1759. His parents were Captain Abraham and Susan (Wright) Burnap. His father, a Justice of the Peace, landowner, and farmer, was originally from Norwich and had moved to Coventry before Daniel was born. One can find Daniel Burnap listed in numerous clock reference materials as an apprentice of Thomas Harland. Harland was a very talented English-born clockmaker who settled in the village of Norwich in 1773. It is now thought that Burnap arrived at Harland's door on September 8, 1779, and stayed in Norwich until July 7, 1880. Burnap must have had a fair amount of clock training before staying with Harland. The relatively short period of time Burnap stayed in Harland, would not have been long enough to learn the complete art of clockmaking. We speculate that Burnap may have learned the skills of engraving, silversmithing, and musical tall clock manufacturing at Harland's shop. The mystery remains. It is not known who provided the groundwork of knowledge to Burnap before he trained with Harland.
Burnap settled in the town of East Windsor sometime before 1780 and was working as a journeyman for John Fairchild. By 1786, he had built the homestead located a few rods north of Bissell's Tavern. Soon, Burnap was active in making clocks and training apprentices of his own.
Burnap's most well-known apprentice is Eli Terry, who became Connecticut's most famous clockmaker. Terry was a pioneer in the development of mass-production techniques in this country and is credited with being the first person in America to manufacture goods, or more specifically clocks, that had interchangeable parts. Burmap also trained Daniel Kellogg, Harvey Sadd, Abel Bliss, Lewis Curtis, Nathaniel Olmsted, Levi Pitkin, Flavel Bingham, Ela Burnap, Thomas Lyman, and Daniel Porter. Several of these gentlemen worked many years in the clock trades. Interestingly, we owned a Burnap tall clock movement engraved with Daniel Porter's name on the front plate. The presence of this engraving suggests that Porter signed the works of this clock while working for Burnap as an apprentice. We have also owned a signed Burnap dial that has evidence of Porter practicing his engraving skills on the back.
Daniel Burnap's East Windsor tall clock cases are somewhat similar in design. Many of these cases were supplied by the East Windsor cabinetmaker Simeon Loomis.
In 1782, Burnap married Deliverance Kingsbury. They did not have any children. It is not currently known when Burnap first worked in Coventry. Three tall clocks are known to us signed with Coventry as a place location. Interestingly, one is prominently dated on the dial 1789. In 1795, Daniel began to purchase land in his hometown of Coventry. While Daniel's land/house was in the town of Coventry, it was also within the borders of the Andover Ecclesiastical Society, which existed as early as 1747 and included parts of Coventry, Hebron, and Lebanon. When Andover became a town in 1848, it simply took the boundaries as had been defined the Society. We are aware of one clock signed Andover. This clock is currently in the Nathaniel Hale Homestead Museum in Coventry, CT. In 1798, Burnap built a sawmill there, and this became a major source of his income. It appears that he maintained his East Windsor shop for a time while living 20 miles away in Coventry. He did this until 1805 when he closed the East Windsor shop.
Daniel Burnap was an active and respected citizen. He was for many years a Justice of the Peace and held court in a spacious room on the first floor of this house. In his later years, Burnap gave up his shop and fitted up a room in the attic of the house where he could keep busy with the less arduous kinds of work such as engraving and repairing watches. He died in 1838 at the age of seventy-eight, a prosperous and respected citizen.
