Joshua Seward of Boston, Massachusetts. Lyre clock or Timepiece. LL-28.
This is a fine mahogany lyre from wall clock or Timepiece. The clock is surmounted by a turned wooden mahogany finial in the form of an acorn. The bezel is also wood and allows access to the painted dial. The Maker’s name can be seen signed above the numeral “VI.” The signature and dial are in excellent original condition. The throat frame is a half-round design that is richly embellished with carved leaves. The reverse painted tablet, to which it frames, is in excellent original condition and is done in excellent colors. The lower box also features half-round frames, and this reverse-painted tablet has also been skillfully painted. This door opens from the left and allows access to the pendulum bob, which is covered in brass. The movement is brass. It is weight driven, retaining its original cast iron weight, and designed to run for eight days. It is good quality.
The overhaul height of this clock is 41 inches. This clock was made circa 1830.
Inventory number LL-28.
Joshua Seward was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on May 5, 1809, and died in Woburn, Massachusetts, on July 21, 1885. Current research suggests that he was most likely an apprentice of John Sawin, a prolific Boston clockmaker. In 1832, Seward partnered with Alva Skinner under the firm Skinner & Seward. In May of 1833, Seward advertised working alone in a shop located at 63 Congress Street. By 1836, he gave up clockmaking to operate the livery stable at the Boylston Estate on School Street in Boston. From 1840 through 1842, Seward lived in Charlestown.
