Tall Case Clock Maker: Benjamin Rittenhouse (American, 1740–1825)

1765–75

American Decorative Arts

On view, 1st floor, American Decorative Arts before 1900

American clocks made before 1750 are extremely rare. Only in the mid-eighteenth century did tall case clocks begin to be widely owned by wealthy colonists. Benjamin Rittenhouse, brother of the inventor and instrument-maker David Rittenhouse, set up shop in Worcester, Pennsylvania, sometime after 1761 and lived there until the early 1800s.

Medium

American black walnut (primary) southeastern white cedar (top of hood); yellow-poplar (back board); white oak (bottom board); white pine (glue block on left rear foot

Dimensions

84 3/4 × 18 3/8 × 10 7/8 in. (215.3 × 46.7 × 27.7 cm)
other (Dial): 10 9/16 × 10 9/16 in. (26.8 × 26.8 cm)
other (Movement): 6 1/4 × 4 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (15.9 × 11.5 × 6.4 cm)
framed (Frame): 11 7/8 × 10 1/8 in. (30.2 × 25.7 cm)
other (Lower case): 61 5/16 × 16 5/8 × 10 5/8 in. (155.7 × 42.2 × 27 cm)
other (Frame, lower case): 11 7/8 × 7 3/4 in. (30.2 × 19.7 cm)

Credit Line

Bequest of Walter B. Sheppard, B.A. 1887

Accession Number

1950.64.1

Geography

Made in Worcester, Pennsylvania

Culture

American

Period

18th century

Classification

Timepieces

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Walter B. Sheppard, Denver; bequest in 1950 to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Edwin A. Battison and Patricia E. Kane, The American Clock, 1725–1865: The Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society, 1973), 122–125, no. 26, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

tall case clocks

Marks

"B. Rittenhouse; Worcester.," engraved, on dial

Technical metadata and APIs

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