Robert Pope, Boston, Massachusetts. A mahogany cased tall clock with an automated rocking ship dial. AAA-7.
This important tall clock, crafted in Boston, Massachusetts, by Robert Pope, stands out for its scarcity and features a mahogany case fitted with a remarkable rocking-ship automated brass dial.
This rare clock has a case typical of early Boston tall clocks. Made of mahogany with a mellow, nut-brown refinish, it sits on a flat base with a single-step molding. The compressed base quickly transitions to a long waist section. This section features a tombstone-shaped door trimmed with molding, which gives access to the two drive weights and the pendulum bob. Simple canted corners soften the case's edges. The bonnet, or hood, has a false pagoda design, which was popular in London at the time. A central blind fretwork and molding trim the top. Blocked ends form plinths that support brass finials. This element is above a break arch molding. Turned bonnet columns with brass Doric-style capitals visually support the molding. Large tombstone-shaped sidelights flank the hood. The arched bonnet door with glass opens to the dial.
The 12-inch composite brass dial is detailed with applied brass decorations and engravings. It features an automated rocking ship display in the arch. The painted tin ship rocks with the pendulum and is set against a nautical scene. Uncommon peacock motif spandrels flank the ship display. A string-of-pearls spandrel surrounds the time ring, cast between 1760 and 1785. The time ring features Roman numerals every five minutes. Subsidiary seconds and calendar displays are finished in silver. The dial center is engraved with the maker and location, 'Robt. Pope - BOSTON,' and decorated with rococo patterns. Steel hands display the time.
The clock has a quality two-train, eight-day brass movement. It is weight-driven. Four turned pillars support the brass plates. Polished steel pinions and hardened shafts support the brass gearing, recoil escapement, and grooved winding drums. It features a rack-and-snail striking system, striking each hour on a cast-iron bell above the movement.
They made this clock circa 1785. It stands approximately 91 inches tall, or 7 feet 7 inches to the top of the pagoda. The hood measures 21 inches wide and 10 inches deep.
Inventory number AAA-7.
Robert Pope was born on September 3, 1754, in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were Robert Pope (1717-1776), a blacksmith and scythe maker, and Phoebe (Brown) Pope (1716- ). It is logical to assume that he apprenticed under his older brother, Joseph Pope (1748-1826). Joseph was six years older than Robert and was a very talented craftsman. In 1775, Robert married Susannah Holland. This union lasted only a short time. In 1778, Robert married Mary Polly Stoneman. During the American Revolution, Robert served as a fencing master. Robert was a clockmaker in Boston in 1780. In 1785, he was employed to care for Boston's five town clocks, including the one in the Old South Church. He advertised in the Massachusetts Centinel that his shop was located on Orange Street in Boston's South End. A second advertisement on Saturday, April 29, 1786, said that he...
"makes Chime and plain clocks, Timepieces, etc. of various constructions, warranted to be equal to any and far superior to many imported from Europe. Table clocks are either chime or plain. Clock and Watch springs warranted as above..." In the same year, he offered to make "barrel organs, containing any (moderate) number of keys and stops, and new barrels made to second-hand organs, on which he will put any number and kind of tunes, that best suit his employers."
It is interesting to note that this is currently the earliest known mention of domestic barrel organ manufacturing. A barrel organ is a small organ typically having five or six ranks of pipes. Each barrel is set with projecting pins or staples. The barrel is rotated, and the pins raise the levers that open the air passageways into the pipes. This creates the notes.
In 1786, a large fire raged through Boston's South End. More than 60 houses were lost, including his brother Joseph's home. Soon after, the two brothers advertised a partnership that was now located on Newbury Street. In 1788, Joseph traveled to Europe, and Robert formed a brief partnership with the clockmaker Stephen Cleverly. In 1787, Robert was the commissary for the government troops at Springfield during Shay's Rebellion. In 1789, Robert was listed as the sole proprietor of a watchmaking shop at 34 Newbury Street. Two years later, he advertised that he made fish hooks. Robert Died in 1793.
Very few clocks are known. One outstanding tall clock example featuring an inlaid case by Dorchester Cabinetmaker Stephen Badlam was sold in New York in 1982. A second example featuring a dial with automation is in a private collection.
