Tall Clock

Movement: George Crow (working ca. 1740–62)

Case: Probably an unknown Philadelphia cabinetmaker

Wilmington, Delaware, 1745–55

Brass works; walnut, tulip, poplar, yellow pine

Gift of Sewell C. Biggs; 1992.76

This tall clock is one of the earliest and most decorative Delaware clocks known to exist. The case, with its so-called “sarcophagus” stepped top and pierced and applied decoration, is firmly an expression of the British-influenced Baroque style. George Crow worked in Wilmington and trained two of his sons to be professional clockmakers. George Crow’s brother William (ca. 1715–1758) also was a clockmaker. He worked in nearby Salem, New Jersey, and it is believed that he apprenticed in Philadelphia.