Stillman Family Clock

This clock’s automated dial features a farmer knocking a cow on the head with an ax, one blow for every hour struck. Although this scene may seem grim, miraculously the cow stands up again before each new hour. This ingenious movement is attributed to the Stillman family of clockmakers in Westerly, Rhode Island, four members of which were active during the period when it was likely made. The self-taught craftsman Deacon William Stillman was the first and most prolific among them, producing wood and later brass movements. William or his brother Willet probably made this example. Their cousins Paul and Barton also worked in Westerly, but they were active slightly later than the proposed date of this object. This tall case clock was featured in the Yale University Art Gallery’s 2016–17 exhibition Art and Industry in Early America: Rhode Island Furniture, 1650–1830.