Shelf Clock

Levi Hutchins American

Not on view

The streamlined case of this coffin-style clock exhibits little embellishment, except for a subtle molding scratched along the edges and an inlaid band around the top. The austerity and concentration on the inherent beauty of the honey-colored mahogany would have been appealing to the Shaker community in Canterbury, only 15 miles from the maker’s workshop. While not a practicing Shaker, Hutchins visited the Canterbury Shaker village and was inspired by their technical and agricultural innovation, which he recorded in his memoir: “I have seen a wonderful invention,—a machine for planting onion, beet, and carrot seeds."

Levi Hutchins (American, 1761–1855), Mahogany, brass, steel, lead, iron, American

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