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Shelf Clock
ca. 1822
Simon Willard
USA: Massachusetts, Roxbury
Mahogany veneer; metal; glass
overall: 30"h x 9-1/2"diameter
Gift of Mrs. Willis R. Michael
75.66.15a-g

Shelf Clock; a: clock: case: "lighthouse"; octagonal base, circular column, gilt ball feet; dial: enameled met, "Simon Willard"; movement: eight-day, brass, alarum timepiece; "S. Willard / 1822"; b: glass dome: free blown, flint glass, tear-drop in knop above goffered collett; c: original brass winding key; d: lighthouse base; e: pendulum; f-g: weights. Movement also a separate piece.


For a craftsman, clockmaker Simon Willard achieved extraordinary fame in his day. His patented "Improved Timepiece" - what we know today as a banjo wall clock, offered consumers a less expensive option than a tall case clock. Following this success, in 1819 Willard developed and patented a distinctive form of alarm clock, which earned the modern-day descriptive name "lighthouse clock." Unfortunately consumers did not take to the design and did not order many. As a result, few examples survive today.