John Whitear of Fairfield, Connecticut. Number 98. A Pre-Revolutionary Connecticut made tall clock. ZZ-20.
This walnut-constructed case retains a historic dry and lightly crazed finish. The color of this case is chocolate brown and is pleasing to the eye. An applied molding supports the case. The molding is secured to the bottom of the base and rests flat on the floor. The base is slightly compressed. This design is a traditional feature of early case forms. The long waist section is fitted with a tombstone-shaped waist door that fills the waist or middle section of the case. This door is nicely trimmed with an applied molding and features a brass-trimmed lenticle. The lenticle is fitted with glass. This allows one to view the motion of the brass-faced pendulum bob without opening the clock’s door. It also informs the clock’s admirer that this example is fitted with a long pendulum. The waist door is hinged and opens to access the two drive weights and the brass-faced pendulum bob. The hood is a flat-top form. The upper molding is substantial and features several shaped molding profiles. The dial door features an arched opening fitted with glass and frames the shape of the dial. Please note that the sides of the case include side lights and rear columns. The bonnet door opens to a composite brass dial. This hood was never fitted with forward bonnet columns. This unusual detail is a recurring theme exhibited in early clocks made in Fairfield County.
This style of brass dial predates the painted dial. It comprises a brass base sheet or dial plate that is hand-hammered flat and decorated with applied brass spandrels and chapter rings. The chapter ring, name boss, subsidiary seconds dial, and calendar dial are finished in a silver wash for contrast. The Maker’s name-boss is featured in the lunette. This three-dimensional detail is skillfully engraved with the Maker’s name, working location, and production number. The perimeter of the boss is decoratively engraved with a comet border. Applied dolphin spandrels center this boss in the lunette. The large chapter ring is also applied to the dial. From the inside out, this dial has an interior minute ring, Roman-style hour numerals, and half-hour markers; a second-minute ring separates the hours from the Arabic-style five-minute markers. The center of the dial is nicely matted. This was most likely done to aid in one’s ability to locate the hands while reading the dial. Over an extended period, a brass dial will tarnish, making it somewhat challenging to read in a room lit by candles. This dial also features an applied subsidiary second dial engraved and silvered. The calendar day is displayed in the small square aperture below the center arbor. The steel hands are nicely detailed. The four corner areas are decorated with applied cast spandrels. These feature twin cherubs holding crossed maces below a large crown.
The movement is constructed in brass. As is the tradition with Whitear clocks, the backplate is nicely finished. The front plate is lightly pitted and has a higher content of copper. The high content of copper gives the plates a pinkish hue. Both plates are supported by four knobbed and finned brass pillar posts. The gearing is brass, and the pinions are steel. The weight-driven movement is designed to run for eight days on a full wind. This clock strikes the hour on a bell. The strike train is located between the plates and is actuated by a rack-and-snail design. The winding barrels grooved. A seat-board supports the movement.
This is a fine example made by a well-known Connecticut Clockmaker circa 1760. This example stands at 85 inches tall overall. It is approximately 20 inches wide and 10 inches deep.
For a more in-depth discussion of John Whitear, please read Winthrop Warren’s and Christopher Nevins’ book, Clocks and Clockmakers of Colonial Fairfield, Connecticut 1713-1813. It is available through the NAWCC.
Inventory number ZZ-20.
John Whitear Senior’s birth date is not currently known. It is currently thought that he may have been born in Fairfield and traveled to Boston to learn the art of clockmaking and bell casting. We know that he returned to Fairfield in 1736 because he is listed as a member of the Church of England under the pastorship of Reverend Henry Caner in that year. On May 29, 1738, John Sr advertised in the Boston Gazette, “John Whitear of Fairfield (CT) Bell-founder, makes and sells all sorts of bells from the lowest size to two-thousand weight.” John was skilled in metalwork, and in 1739, he was recorded as casting a bell for the new Anglican Church in Fairfield. In 1743/44, he cast a Whitear bell for Dr. Johnson, a member of the Christ Church in Stratford. Whitear also made a clock for Dr. Johnson in 1750. This clock may have also been for the Church. In 1751, he cast a bell for the Congregational Church in Fairfield.
John Sr married, but his wife’s name is not currently known. They had at least four children that were born in Fairfield. His son, John Jr, was born in 1738 and died on August 26, 1773, at 35. He was also trained as a clockmaker and bell founder and worked for many years with his father until his John Sr passed in 1762 in Fairfield. John Sr had a working career that spanned approximately 28 years. His estate was settled by his son John Jr, who succeeded both branches of his business, Bell founder and Clockmaker. Several clocks are known that are numbered on the dial. One clock made by his son, number 103, is also dated “1764.” If we assume John started with clock No.1, simple math suggests that they made approximately three or four clocks yearly.
John Whitear Junior was born in Fairfield, Connecticut in 1738. He was the son of John Whitear Senior, who was best known as a bell founder. John Jr was a member of Trinty (Episcopal) Church of Fairfield. He lived in a neighborhood called Black Rock, which is located on the seashore. It is thought that he trained under his father and continued to work in business with him until his father died in 1762. In that year, he is known to have made a clock for Peter Perry. John Jr married Abigail Rowland (b. 1742 – d. 1813) on June 11, 1767. She was a member of the Christ Church in Fairfield. It is thought that he may have trained Joseph Buckley of the same town. In 1767, he was appointed an Ensign of the second trainband of Fairfield. In 1771, he was promoted to the grade of Lieutenant. John Jr. died on August 26, 1773, and is buried in the “Ye Old Burying Ground of Fairfield, Conn.” His estate was settled, and a record of his inventory is listed. It was extensive.
A small number of tall clocks are known. Several of these are numbered, and luckily, a few are dated. The lowest number currently known to us is No. 33, and the highest is No. 103. The No. 103 example is also dated “1764.” This clock would have been made two years after John Sr’s death. An interesting observation is that a high percentage of the known clocks have been re-cased. This is also true of the other known Fairfield Clockmakers that include Joseph Buckley, William Burr Jr., The partnership of Whiting and Marquand and Richardson Minor. This may be a result of the British burning 192 houses, barns, shops, and churches during their attack on Fairfield on July 7, 1779.
