Tall Case Clock180185 1/2 × 14 3/4 × 8 1/4"Paint on yellow pine, with brass and steel works, modern watercolor and ink on period-paper face, and original sheet-iron dialGift of Ralph Esmerian2005.8.270Geometric patterns on sides. Stylized flowers on top and sides. Crescent moon on top of sides.1545063345Johannes SpitlerFurniture/FurnishingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.Inscribed "Jacob Strickler/1801,/Johannes Spitler,/Nomber 3,"http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster24258United StatesVirginiaThree Dimensional WorksJacob Strickler was a neighbor and relative by marriage to Johannes Spitler. The painted motifs on this clock are similar to those painted by Strickler in his fraktur. Strickler was a Mennonite preacher and fraktur artist.The two names that appear on this coffin-case clock reveal lives intertwined through marriage, culture, place, and artistry. The area of Shenandoah County, Virginia, that came to be known as Masanutten was settled in the 1720s by eight families of Swiss Mennonite heritage. The clock case bears the name Jacob Strickler, a fraktur artist and Mennonite preacher whose family was included among these original pioneers. It also reveals the name Johannes Spitler, previously known only by the initials “j.SP” that appear on a group of more than twenty related pieces of furniture distinctively paint-decorated using red lead, white lead, Prussian blue, and lampblack pigments. Each piece is primed with red lead, and the design elements are lightly scored into the surfaces. This clock is painted with motifs, such as the upside-down hearts, that are strongly associated with fraktur by Strickler, Spitler’s neighbor. Unlike the other examples of furniture that are meticulously crafted using a variety of sophisticated and skilled techniques, the name and front panels on this clock are not framed but are instead laboriously made from single boards that have been carved to simulate panel construction. Spitler and his family relocated sometime after 1805 to Ohio, where he died, in 1837.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Tall Case Clock,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgfurniturehttp://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster24258http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster24258http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster2425818011801 2005 8 27 Jacob Strickler was a neighbor and relative by marriage to Johannes Spitler. The painted motifs on this clock are similar to those painted by Strickler in his fraktur. Strickler was a Mennonite preacher and fraktur artist.The two names that appear on this coffin-case clock reveal lives intertwined through marriage, culture, place, and artistry. The area of Shenandoah County, Virginia, that came to be known as Masanutten was settled in the 1720s by eight families of Swiss Mennonite heritage. The clock case bears the name Jacob Strickler, a fraktur artist and Mennonite preacher whose family was included among these original pioneers. It also reveals the name Johannes Spitler, previously known only by the initials “j.SP” that appear on a group of more than twenty related pieces of furniture distinctively paint-decorated using red lead, white lead, Prussian blue, and lampblack pigments. Each piece is primed with red lead, and the design elements are lightly scored into the surfaces. This clock is painted with motifs, such as the upside-down hearts, that are strongly associated with fraktur by Strickler, Spitler’s neighbor. Unlike the other examples of furniture that are meticulously crafted using a variety of sophisticated and skilled techniques, the name and front panels on this clock are not framed but are instead laboriously made from single boards that have been carved to simulate panel construction. Spitler and his family relocated sometime after 1805 to Ohio, where he died, in 1837.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Tall Case Clock,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgfurniture