Ephraim Willard tall case clock. Boston Massachusetts. 211030.
Ephraim Willard of Boston, Massachusetts, made this inlaid mahogany case tall clock.
This fine inlaid mahogany case features excellent mahogany wood and mahogany veneers. The case rests on four ogee-bracket feet applied to the bottom of the double-step molding. The base features a mahogany panel with a long vertical grain pattern. This panel is decorated with a line-inlaid pattern featuring reliefs or cutouts in each of the four corners. This decorative inlay pattern is also used in the construction of the waist door. The perimeter of this rectangular door is fitted with applied molding. The door provides access to the two tin can drive weights and the brass pendulum bob. The front corners of the waist section are fitted with brass stop fluted quarter columns. These terminated in brass quarter capitals. The bonnet features a traditional pierced and open fretwork design and is surmounted with three brass ball-and-spiked finials. These are mounted on fluted plinths. The bonnet door is arched and fitted with glass. The two smoothly turned, and brass stop fluted bonnet columns are positioned on either side of the bonnet door. They are free-standing and mounted in brass capitals and bases. They provide the illusion of supporting the upper bonnet molding.
This signed "E. Willard" painted iron dial is colorfully. Floral patterns decorate each of the four spandrel areas and the arch. This dial displays the time in a traditional format, with large Roman-style hour numerals marking the hours and Arabic numerals at the five-minute markers. A dotted minute ring separates them. The subsidiary seconds dial is displayed below the Roman hour numeral XII, and the calendar date is indicated on a separate dial mounted below the center arbor.
The eight-day time-and-strike movement is brass construction and of fine quality. It is weight-powered and designed to run for eight days after being wound. It is a time and strike design, striking each hour on a cast iron bell mounted above the movement.
This clock was made circa 1795 and stands approximately 7 feet 7.5 inches tall.
Inventory number 211030.
Ephraim Willard was born in Grafton, Massachusetts, on March 18, 1755, during a period of significant change in colonial America. His parents, Benjamin Willard and Sarah (Brooks) Willard, had 12 children; four of them became clockmakers, reflecting the era’s growing demand for skilled artisans in the colonies. Little is known about Ephraim’s early life in Grafton, but he likely learned clockmaking from his older brothers, Benjamin (1743–1803) and Simon (1753–1848), at a time when the craft was central to local economies and technological advancement. Simon Willard would become America’s most prominent clockmaker, shaping the emerging identity of American craftsmanship. Ephraim also practiced clockmaking, probably working closely with Simon and their younger brother, Aaron (1757–1844), as the family contributed to New England’s reputation for fine timepieces.
Ephraim’s life intersected with major events in early American history. According to the History of the town of Sutton, Massachusetts, from 1704 to 1876, including Grafton until 1735; Millbury until 1813; and parts of Northbridge, Upton, and Auburn, Simon was hired by Joseph Rockwell to build a machine for cutting and shaping the teeth of a carding machine, an example of how New England artisans adapted to the early stirrings of the Industrial Revolution. Records also show that Ephraim marched with his brothers in response to the Lexington Alarm on April 19, 1775, serving during the opening days of the American Revolution. This direct involvement in the war highlights the Willard family’s commitment to the colonial cause.
In 1777, Ephraim moved to Medford, Massachusetts, where he was listed as a clock and watchmaker. By 1784, a lawsuit identified him as a trader living in Boston, reflecting the mobility and economic challenges many artisans faced following the Revolution. From 1795 to 1801, Roxbury tax records list him as a resident of Roxbury. In 1801, he bought land and a house on Sheaf’s Lane in Boston; the deed described him as a "Merchant." Over the next two years, he faced financial difficulties and was described as a clockmaker. In 1804, Boston tax records list him as a clockmaker on Elliot Street. In 1805, Ephraim moved to New York City, where he was occasionally recorded as a watchmaker until 1832. Like his brother Benjamin, Ephraim moved frequently, a testament to the shifting landscape of post-Revolutionary America and the challenges of maintaining a trade. He produced far fewer clocks than his three brothers, and only a small number of tall clocks bearing his signature are known to exist. Notably, the cases for his clocks range from simple and understated to examples considered among the finest made by Boston-area cabinetmakers, reflecting both the evolving tastes of the period and the influence of a changing nation.
