Southern Valley of Virginia, probably Montgomery (now Pulaski) County, ca. 1810
Mahogany with oak, tulip poplar, cherry, black walnut, holly, maple, bone, horn, silver
Catalog no. 176
Visually arresting, this clock is distinguished by its great height and ambitious decoration. According to longstanding oral tradition, it was commissioned around 1809 by Sebastian Wygal, a wealthy farmer in Montgomery (now Pulaski) County in the southern Valley of Virginia. Since his home was conveniently located on the wagon road from Baltimore to Tennessee, Wygal also operated both a tavern and a wagon transport service to Richmond.
Oral tradition also holds that the case and movement were made by local woodworker Peter Rife and clockmaker Peter Whipple. While little has been found about Whipple, records suggest that Rife was a well-respected artisan who also was known for his skill as a millwright. A native of Pennsylvania, Rife moved to southwestern Virginia around the time of the Revolutionary War.
The design of the case reveals two distinct decorative approaches: one rooted in a sophisticated concern for visual order, classical allusions, and meticulous workmanship; the other revealing a more playful, less disciplined, spirit. Representing the former are the multiple bands of geometric-patterned stringing, the classical urns on the base and trunk, and the American eagle in the tympanum. In marked contrast to these formal elements are German-American motifs such as the meandering vines on the trunk and base, the flowering witch's hearts at the bottom of the trunk door, and the whimsical inlays above the hood door in which verdant bellflowers emanate from striped shields. Also departing from prim neoclassical standards are the scrolled feet, the projecting hood scrolls with their pendant spheres, and the F-holes in the tympanum, which are clearly derived from those on violins and other string instruments.