Incollect Magazine - Issue 9

Edward Duffield Philadelphia Clockmaker, Citizen, Gentleman, 1730–1803 by Bob Frishman The first comprehensive study of the life and times of colonial Philadelphia clockmaker Edward Duffield Publisher: The American Philosophical Society Press Design & Production: Incollect Publishing 224 pages; 9½ x 12½; 218 illustrations For more information visit amphilsoc.org/aps-press Edward Duffield (1730– 1803) was a colonial Philadelphia clockmaker, whose elegant brass, mahogany, and walnut timekeepers stand proudly in major American museums and collections. Duffield, unlike other leather-apron “mechanics,” was born rich and owned a country estate, Benfield, and many more properties. He was deeply involved in civic and church affairs during crucial years in American history — his lifelong close friend, Benjamin Franklin, was staying at Duffield’s Ben-field estate when Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams first discussed the Declaration of Independence. In this lavishly illustrated book, Bob Frishman catalogs and describes seventy-one known Duffield clocks and instruments and reveals how, during the mid-eighteenth century, they largely were not fabricated from scratch by isolated individuals. Frishman contends that Duffield and his fellow clockmakers were not furniture-makers; they were mechanical artisans whose complex metal machines rang the hours and steadily ticked inside wooden cases made by others. Existing books on Philadelphia clocks have focused on these artifacts as furniture, including their woodwork, cabinetmakers, and decorative aspects. Far more than a treatise on pre-industrial horological time- keeping, this book tells the compelling stories of a man, a city, and an era, while deepening our appreciation for Duffield’s stately sentinels-often a colonial American family’s most valuable possession-and the times and places in which their makers lived. Author Bob Frishman is founder of the clock repair and restoration firm Bell-Time Clocks in Andover, MA. Bob writes and lectures extensively about the history, culture, and technology of horology, the science of timekeeping. 34 www.incollect.com C M Y CM MY CY CMY K FRISHMAN BobFrishmanwas introduced tohorologyon anksgivingDay,1980,whenhewas invited into theover owingbasementof a collector anddealerof antique clocks,watches, tools, andmachinery.HadBob stayedhome thatday, thisbookwouldnothavebeenwritten. Since then,Bobhas repaired eight thousand clocks, restored and sold two thousand antique clocks,publishedmore than140 articles and reviews,anddeliveredmore than100 lectures. Within thepastdecade,he alsoorganized horological symposia atWinterthur, the MuseumofFineArts,Boston, theHenryFord, theMuseumof theAmericanRevolution,and theHorologicalSocietyofNewYork. Bob isaSilverStarFellowof theNational AssociationofWatchandClockCollectors,and aLiverymanof theWorshipfulCompanyof Clockmakers inLondon.He isaProprietorof theBostonAthenaeum,holderofShareNumber 8of theLibraryCompanyofPhiladelphia, amemberof theGrolierClub, theAmerican AntiquarianSociety,and theRossSociety of theMuseumofFineArts,Boston. He continues tooperateBell-TimeClocks in Andover,Massachusetts,wherehe liveswith hiswife,author JeanneSchinto. EdwardDu eldmade some nest clocksduring the thir eighteenth century. Farmore than the storyof ea horology fromone artisan’sp is thehistoryof aprominen clockmaker andwatchmake landowner, and intimateof luminarieswho,duringhis lo built and shaped this leading e author’s forty-plus year professionalhorologicalpra scholar, author,and lecturer chapterson clockmakingby his contemporaries. e sol treatiseonDu eld,anunp researchedby aWinterthur addressed fteen clocks.No Du eld-signed clocks and i that are currentlyknown, a illustrated in thebook’sCat Other chaptersdescribe the family,his landholdings,and up to theRevolution that are only for contextbutbecause witnessedordirectlyparticip e nal chapter revealsDu friendshipwithBenjaminFr close connectionsbetween th families.Du eld served aso executorsof the greatman’s testament to their special rel With a preface byEDWAR and foreword by JAYROB Bob Frishman AmericanPhilosophicalSocietyPress Philadelphia Citizen Gentleman 1730 –1803 PhiladelphiaClockmaker, Citizen,Gentleman 1730–1803 Edward Duffield Edward Duffield Photoby Jeanne Schinto. Jacket front: EdwardDuf eld standing timepiece,with sphericalmoon lunar indicator,CatalogueNo.4.Collection of theAmerican Philosophical Society. Jacketback: Same clock’smovement and rear ofdial. Photosby JohnWynn. , , Clockmaker FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD COVERJACKET_Frishman_Duffield_APS.indd 1