Edward Duffield

Edward Duffield (1730 to 1803) was a colonial Philadelphia clockmaker whose elegant timekeepers in brass, mahogany and walnut are held in major American museums and collections. Unlike most of the leather-apron mechanics of his trade, he was born wealthy and owned a country estate, Benfield, along with many other properties. He took an active part in civic and church life during crucial years in American history. Duffield's closest lifelong friend was Benjamin Franklin, who was staying at Benfield when he, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams first discussed the Declaration of Independence. Franklin's daughter Sally brought her family to the estate for long stays during the Revolution. Franklin's wife, Deborah, was best friends for fifty years with Duffield's mother-in-law, and Duffield was one of three executors of Franklin's will. In this lavishly illustrated book, Bob Frishman catalogs and describes seventy-one known Duffield clocks and instruments. He shows that in the mid-eighteenth century such clocks were largely not made from scratch by isolated craftsmen. He argues that Duffield and his fellow clockmakers were mechanical artisans, not furniture makers, whose complex metal movements struck the hours and ticked inside wooden cases built by others. Earlier books on Philadelphia clocks treated them mainly as furniture, focusing on woodwork, cabinetmakers and decoration. Frishman, a professional horologist for nearly four decades, offers the first comprehensive study of Duffield's life and work. The book is more than a study of pre-industrial timekeeping. It tells the story of a man, a city and an era, and it deepens appreciation of these clocks, often a colonial family's most valuable possession. It won the American Philosophical Society's John Frederick Lewis Award, the Decorative Arts Society's Charles F. Montgomery Award, and the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors' James W. Gibbs Literary Award.