Colonial American Clockmaking

Edward Duffield and Colonial American Clockmaking

Edward Duffield produced some of the finest tall-case clocks made in North America during the eighteenth century. Fine examples are exhibited at Colonial Williamsburg and other major institutions. Unlike most "leather-apron" craftsmen of his day, he was a wealthy landowner, an active citizen, and a warden and vestryman of Christ Church—the city’s Anglican center of worship. He was a lifelong close friend of Benjamin Franklin and served as an executor of the great man’s will. Bob Frishman will provide many details and images on Duffield’s life, Philadelphia history, and early colonial clockmaking, from his comprehensive biography, Edward Duffield, Philadelphia Clockmaker, Citizen, Gentleman, 1730-1803, published in 2024 by the American Philosophical Society.