Joseph Ellicott (1732 – 1780) Buckingham, Bucks County, PA.
Born in Bucks County, Ellicott was a mechanical and mathematical genius. While living in Bucks County he made approximately 300 case clocks. In 1769 he completed his masterpiece, a complicated tall case clock with three separate dials. It tells the time and shows the phases of the moon; depicts on an orrery the motions of the sun, moon, and planets; and plays selected twenty-four musical tunes on the hour. The clock is currently held by the Smithsonian Institute.

Ellicott was a visionary as well as a craftsman. In 1772 he moved from the Philadelphia area to Maryland with his brothers Andrew and John and set up a flour-milling operation in what is now Ellicott City. Soon it became one of the largest milling and manufacturing towns in the East.

The Ellicott brothers helped revolutionize farming in the area by persuading farmers to plant wheat instead of tobacco and also by introducing fertilizer to revitalize depleted soil. One of the first converts from tobacco to wheat was Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Ellicott’s son Joseph was a surveyor and land agent for the Holland Land Company and was commissioned by George Washington to survey the federal district that became Washington, DC.

The clock we are selling is signed and made by Joseph Ellicott - Buckingham - No.24. The clock is 95” tall – 7½” to 10” deep – 14½” to 18½” wide, and made circa 1760. The clock is near original. The front panel appears not to be original and the case may have been refinished, but retains a good patina. The hands on the face are not original. The works are in excellent condition. The clock has been in the Stephenson family since at least the late 1800’s. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a historically significant clock that is in outstanding condition.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have. Call 410-557-8052 during the office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday or you can reach us by email at isennock@isennockauction.com
 

Robert L. Isennock, Sr.
Cindy T. Isennock
Isennock Auction Services, Inc.
4106B Norrisville Road
White Hall, MD 21161
Phone 410-557-8052
Fax 410-692-6449

MARYLAND AUCTION GROUP