Tall clock

Tall clock

John Townsend

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This clock case is eloquent testimony that John Townsend's later block-and-shell pieces were among his most masterful achievements. It is also the only signed Townsend piece with stop-fluted quarter columns and its original reeded-urn finials. The clock movement and dial are by William Tomlinson of London (active 1733). William Claggett's death in 1749 left Newport without a master clockmaker, so it is not surprising that some of the finest tall clock cases made there house movements by English makers. In his will, Townsend left his son, John, his own clock "made by Storr of London" (Marmaduke Storr, active 1755-79).

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.