Abel Hutchins of Concord, New Hampshire. A tiger maple cased tall clock. XXSL-63.
This clock is a fine example of classic New England design. Made mostly from maple, it includes several panels with striking tiger maple grain. This mix is rare and may have been a special order from a knowledgeable client. The case stands on a cut-out bracket base, with simple feet that lead into a distinctive drop apron. Decorative molding separates the apron from the base panel, running along the front and sides. The long base panel shows off tiger striping, especially at the edges. The waist is also long and has a rectangular door with applied molding, made from wood that features tiger striping. Fluted quarter columns with brass rods and decorative brass capitals sit at the front corners of the waist. The bonnet is topped with a traditional New England-style fretwork, a pattern often seen in Concord, New Hampshire. Three fluted chimney plinths, each with a brass ball-and-spike finial, sit on top. The two bonnet columns are fluted with brass rods and frame the arched, glass-fitted bonnet door, which opens to reveal the painted dial.
The iron dial was made in Boston by the Nolen dial firm. Its main decoration is an American shield painted in the arch, a style that is very popular with collectors today. Each of the four spandrel areas features a painted version of a spoked wheel, surrounded by raised gesso decorations with gilt paint and a cross-hatched background. The time ring uses Roman numerals for the hours, with smaller Arabic numerals marking every five minutes. There are also separate dials for seconds and the calendar date in their usual spots. The maker's name appears in script above the hour numeral "VI," and "CONCORD" is marked in block letters.
The movement is made of brass and runs on weights. When fully wound, it operates for eight days and strikes the hour on a cast-iron bell mounted above the brass frames. The rectangular frames have a bell-shaped cutout to save brass. The striking system uses a rack-and-snail mechanism. Overall, the movement is well-made.
The clock is about 7 feet 7 inches tall to the top of the center brass finial and was made around 1809.
Inventory number XXSL-63.
Abel Hutchins worked in partnership with his older brother, Levi, from 1786 through 1803. Both boys were born in Harvard, Massachusetts, the sons of Colonel Gordon Hutchins & Dolly, or Dorothy Stone. They had eleven children. Levi was born on August 17, 1761, and Abel was born two years later, on March 16, 1763. Both men lived into their nineties.
On December 6, 1777, the brothers began an apprenticeship with Simon Willard of Grafton, Massachusetts, a renowned clockmaker whose influence helped shape the early American clockmaking industry. At this time, Levi was sixteen, and Abel was fourteen, reflecting the common practice of early apprenticeships in the late 18th century. In 1780, Levi broadened his expertise by spending approximately eight months in Abington, Connecticut, studying watchmaking. Levi later relocated to Concord, New Hampshire, where he opened a shop on Main Street and became the first clockmaker in the state to manufacture brass clocks, marking a significant development in the region's horological history. After completing his apprenticeship, Abel worked briefly in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He appears in the Roxbury tax assessor's records of 1784 and was also appointed a fireward, an important municipal role, alongside Aaron Willard and Elijah Ward. Abel's marriage to Elizabeth Partridge on January 22, 1786, in Roxbury, further connected him to prominent clockmaking families—two of Elizabeth’s sisters married Aaron Willard Jr. and Elnathan Taber, both accomplished clockmakers. Shortly after their marriage, Abel moved to Concord, NH, and joined Levi in partnership around 1786, at a time when the clockmaking trade was burgeoning in New England.
Abel and his wife lived in Concord for 67 years, having five sons and eight daughters. Soon after their marriage, Abel partnered with his brother Levi in a three-story dwelling house in the central part of the main village. Here they began what must have been a very productive business of making clocks. In 1793, Levi & Abel purchased a farm approximately three miles from their original home on the western side of Rattlesnake Hill, also called Granite Hill. In early 1807, Abel bought out his brother's interest in the partnership. He continued making clocks in the same location downtown. (Levi lived on the farm.) The shop was destroyed by fire on November 25, 1817. Abel built the Phoenix Hotel on the same site. It opened for business on January 1, 1819. He prospered as an innkeeper until he retired in 1832, when his son Ephraim took over the business.
